Theodore Jacobsen (died 1772) was an English merchant in London, known also as an architect.

Life

Jacobsen was a merchant in

Basinghall Street Bassishaw is a ward in the City of London. Small, it is bounded by wards: Coleman Street, east; Cheap, south; Cripplegate, north; Aldersgate, west. It first consisted of Basinghall Street with the courts and short side streets off it,

, London. He was the London-born son of Sir Jacob Jacobsen, a north German merchant, of a family closely involved with the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

, and their London base, the

Steelyard The Steelyard, from the Middle Low German (sample yard), was the main trading base () of the Hanseatic League in London during the 15th and 16th centuries. Location The Steelyard was located on the north bank of the Thames by the outflow o ...

. From 1735 Jacobsen ran the family business there. In the period 1726–9 Jacobsen rebuilt

East India House East India House was the London headquarters of the East India Company, from which much of British India was governed until the British government took control of the Company's possessions in India in 1858. It was located in Leadenhall Street ...

in the

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

, which took on the form it presented for the rest of the 18th century. The work was carried out under John James. The House was then reconstructed in the late 1790s, to a plan by

Richard Jupp Richard Jupp (1728 – 17 April 1799) was an 18th-century English architect, particularly associated with buildings in and around London. He served for many years (c. 1755 – 1799) as surveyor to the British East India Company. Works His wor ...

. In 1731 Jacobsen was unsuccessful in submitting a plan to the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

, for building work that was carried out to a design by George Sampson. Jacobsen designed the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...

; the plan was approved in 1742, and was carried out under James Horne as surveyor. Jacobsen became a governor of the hospital. After a falling-out with Jacobsen in 1742,

Thomas Coram Captain Thomas Coram (c. 1668 – 29 March 1751) was an English sea captain and philanthropist who created the London Foundling Hospital in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury, to look after abandoned children on the streets of London. It is said ...

, the hospital's founder, failed to be re-elected to its General Committee. Henry Keene did further work on the Foundling Hospital site, under Jacobsen's supervision. Jacobsen also designed the

Royal Hospital Haslar The Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, was one of several hospitals serving the local area. It was converted into retirement flats between 2018 and 2020. The hospital itself is a Grade II listed building. History Formation and oper ...

. His plans for

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

's West Front and Parliament Square were carried out in the 1750s by Henry Keene and John Sanderson (died 1774). Also involved in the building work there was Hugh Darley (1701–1770). Jacobsen became a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

, and the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

. He died on 25 May 1772, and was buried in All Hallows Church, Thames Street, London. He did not marry.

Works

View of the East India House (NYPL Hades-268515-EM2955).tiff The Foundling Hospital, Holborn, London; a bird's-eye view o Wellcome M0013522.jpg Royal Hospital, Haslar, near Portsmouth; view from far right Wellcome V0014700.jpg DUBLIN(1837) p045 PARLIAMENT SQUARE, TRINITY COLLEGE.jpg

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobsen, Theodore Year of birth missing 1772 deaths British merchants 18th-century English architects Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London 18th-century English businesspeople British people of German descent Businesspeople from London Architects from London