Thomas Jackson (1807–1890) was a 19th-century Irish architect who contributed to the iconic baroque look of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

. He was described as being the foremost Belfast architect of his day.

Early life

Thomas Jackson was born in the city of

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, Ireland, in 1807. His parents were Anthony Jackson and Elizabeth Pim, both practising

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

. In fact, Thomas Jackson's great-great-great Grandfather was in attendance during the very first Irish Quaker meeting of 1654. Thomas Jackson would later contribute to the local Quaker movement by designing many of the Friends meeting houses in Northern Ireland. Jackson married Lydia Newsom Ridgeway, another member of the Waterford Quaker community, on New Year's Day 1835. Together they produced two children; Anthony Thomas Jackson and William Ridgeway Jackson.

Career

Thomas Jackson served his early apprenticeship with George Dymond of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. In 1829, he moved to

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

to work in partnership with

Thomas Duff Thomas John Duff (1792–1848) was an Irish architect from Newry, County Down. Duff was the principal architect of a number of Roman Catholic churches and cathedrals in the northeast of Ireland. His work included three churches dedicated to St ...

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

. He was in charge of Duff's newly established Belfast branch office. He kept this role until 1835 before striking out on his own. Thomas's most recognised work from this period was the Old Museum building for the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Socitety, of which he was an Honorary member. Around 1840 Jackson returned briefly to Waterford, the city of his birth, to design a new bank at 31 O'Connell Street. The bank was completed in around 1845 (It is due to open as the Waterford Gallery of Art in April 2020). Around 1867, Thomas Jackson's sons joined him, operating under the name ''Thomas Jackson & Sons''. Anthony left to pursue his own interests circa 1870. William stayed on for roughly another ten years before emigrating to Australia. Thomas Jackson produced very little architectural work in the years following Williams departure. Jackson was fundamentally a residential architect, but over the course of his career he turned his hand to commercial, educational, industrial and ecclesiastical buildings. An example of his domestic work would be the ambitious Cliftonville development. He was the principal architect of

Ulster Bank Ulster Bank ( ga, Banc Uladh) is a large retail bank, and one of the traditional Big Four (banking)#Ireland, Big Four Irish clearing banks. The Ulster Bank Group is subdivided into two separate legal entities: NatWest, National Westminster Ban ...

and of the Banbridge, Lisburn & Belfast Junction Railway.

Notable works

Thomas Jackson was personally credited with 114 designs in total. The following are good examples of work by Thomas Jackson and his sons: * Arnotts Warehouse, Belfast * Belfast Hospital for Sick Children * Clifton Villas, Belfast * Craigavon House * Glenmachon House, Belfast * Graymount House, Belfast *

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

, Belfast * St. George's Building, BelfastSt. George’s Building, 37–41 High Street, Belfast
archiseek.com, 2015. * St. Malachy's Church, Belfast * 31 O'Connell Street, Waterford

Gallery

File:Head Line building Belfast.jpg, Scottish Amicable building, Belfast File:Former Corn Exchange, Belfast (detail) - geograph.org.uk - 1396744.jpg, Detailing from the Corn Exchange, Belfast File:Former Friends Meeting House, Belfast - geograph.org.uk - 574723.jpg, Former Frederick Street Quaker Meeting House, Belfast File:Belfast Queen Street Hospital in 2014.jpg, Belfast Hospital for Sick Children File:Former police station, Belfast (geograph 2361829).jpg, Detailing from Belfast Hospital for Sick Children File:St Malachy's Church Belfast.jpg, St Malachy's Church, Belfast File:Old Museum Belfast.jpg, Old Museum, Belfast File:College Square North, Belfast (2) - geograph.org.uk - 1134946.jpg, Detailing from Old Museum, Belfast

Portfolio

''NB: Some omissions due to lack of descriptive information.''

References

Bibliography

* James Stevens Curl, 'A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'. * Hugh Dixon, 'Honouring Thomas Jackson (1807–1890)'. ''British Natural History and Philosophical Society Journal''. * Paul Larmour, 'A hive of activity (Thomas Jackson 1807–1890)'. '' QUB Perspective Journal''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Thomas (architect) 1807 births 1890 deaths People from Waterford (city) Architects from Belfast Irish architects 19th-century architects