Thomas Roger Smith (1830–1903) was an English architect and academic. He is now best known for his views and writings on public buildings, in terms of their style and acoustics, and their influence on other architects, particularly in relation to British imperial architecture.
Life
Born at
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
on 14 July 1830, he was the only son of the Rev. Thomas Smith of Sheffield by his wife Louisa Thomas of Chelsea. After private education he entered the office of
Philip Hardwick
Philip Hardwick (15 June 1792 in London – 28 December 1870) was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch ...
; and spent a year and a half in travel before beginning independent practice as an architect in 1855. Arthur John Gale was in partnership with him until 1891 and from 1888 his son, Ravenscroft Elsey Smith. His office was at Temple Chambers, Temple Avenue, E.C., London.
An employee was the novelist
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...
, for a few months in 1872 as he was struggling to establish himself as a writer.
Smith lectured on architecture and became in 1851 a member of the
Architectural Association
The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in the world. Its wide-ranging programme ...
, of which he was president in 1860–1 and again in 1863–4. At the
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
(RIBA) he was elected an associate in 1856, in 1863 a fellow, and was for several sessions a member of its council.
In 1869 he was a founding editor of ''The Architect''.
Smith became chairman in 1899 of the statutory board of examiners (under the London Building Acts) which the Institute appointed. In 1874 he was made district surveyor under the Metropolitan Board of Works for Southwark and North Lambeth and was transferred in 1882 to the district of West Wandsworth. Smith's other official appointments were numerous. At the
Carpenters' Company
The Worshipful Company of Carpenters is a livery company of the City of London. The Carpenters were traditionally different from a fellow wood-crafting company, the Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers, in that carpenters utilised nails wh ...
, he attained in 1901 the office of master. He was an examiner in architecture to the Science and Art Department,
South Kensington Museum
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
, as well as to the
City and Guilds Institute
The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute ha ...
.
From 1880 to his death, Smith was Professorship of Architecture at
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = Â ...
, which he held from 1880 to his death. He was brought in on questions of
rights of light, and as an architectural assessor in competitions. Seriously lame for many years, Smith worked on until the end of 1902. He died on 11 March 1903 at his residence, Gordon Street, Gordon Square, London.
Indian experience and British imperial architecture
Selected to design exhibition buildings in
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, Smith went there in 1864. The project was abandoned, after the contract was signed, because of the
cotton famine
The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–65), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided w ...
. Buildings were erected in India from his designs, including the post office and British Hospital at Bombay, and the residency at
Ganeshkhind.
In 1873 Smith made much-noted comments on the architectural styles appropriate to the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
and its public buildings. Speaking to 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 urged that "European" styles should be adopted. On that occasion he was opposed by
William Emerson, whose view was that "Indic" styles should be used on such buildings, in India. The debate ran on for decades. Smith had made the same case in a RIBA lecture in 1868.
The topical context in which he spoke in 1873 was that (what became known as)
Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture
Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, or Hindoo style) was a revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government ...
had strong proponents, in particular
Lord Napier
Lord Napier, of Merchistoun, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1627 for Sir Archibald Napier, 1st Baronet. Earlier that year, he already held the Napier Baronetcy, of Merchistoun in the County of Midlothian, created in ...
in
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. Smith was defending the
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style that was being introduced to Bombay. This style had the favour of
Henry Bartle Frere
Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, 1st Baronet, (29 March 1815 – 29 May 1884) was a Welsh British colonial administrator. He had a successful career in India, rising to become Governor of Bombay (1862–1867). However, as High Commissioner for ...
, the governor, but was in fact a hybrid.
Part of Smith's thesis denied a characteristically "English" architectural style.
Other works
![Mount Vernon - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Mount_Vernon_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1133105.jpg)
In England Smith's work included the Technical Schools (and Baths) of the Carpenters' Company at Stratford, and the Ben Jonson schools at
Stepney
Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...
(1872), as well as other schools for the London School Board.
In school design, Smith employed what was then called the "German system", or "Prussian plan", in the Jonson Street School in Stepney, providing in particular one classroom per class. Still a contentious approach, it was criticised by
Edward Robert Robson
Edward Robert Robson FRIBA FSA FSI (2 March 1836 – 19 January 1917) was an English architect famous for the progressive spirit of his London state-funded school buildings of the 1870s and early 1880s.
Born in Durham, he was the elder son of Ro ...
, who had objections on grounds of expense. At that date, Robson as School Board architect was making a reasonable case based on the existing supply of teachers.
Smith designed also Emmanuel church and vicarage, South Croydon, and the Sanatorium at Reedham (1883).
The North London Hospital for Consumption at Hampstead, known as Mount Vernon, was built in 1880, enlarged in 1892, completed 1903. Its French-influenced style was a pattern repeated in hospitals built over the next two decades. Laboratories at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
(opened 1892) formed part of an uncompleted scheme for the
Gower Street front of the large quadrangle.
![99 Southwark Street - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/99_Southwark_Street_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1347063.jpg)
Domestic architectural work included
Armathwaite Hall,
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
; Brambletye House,
East Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...
; Hitcham Hall,
Hitcham, Buckinghamshire Hitcham was a village in Buckinghamshire, England. Today it is indistinguishable from the extended village of Burnham (where the 2011 Census was included) and is no longer marked on Ordnance Survey 1:50000 maps as a separate settlement. It is to t ...
for George Hanbury, and Beechy Lees at
Otford
Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies on the River Darent, north of Sevenoaks. Otford's four churches are the Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in the village centre, the Otford Methodist Churc ...
, Kent.
Writings
Smith's published books were:
* ''A Rudimentary Treatise on the Acoustics of Public Buildings'', in
Weale's series
John Weale (1791 – December 18, 1862 in Maida Vale) was an English publisher of popular scientific, architectural, engineering and educational works.
Life
He went into the trade first with George Priestley in St Giles, London who died around 1 ...
(1861);
* ''Architecture, Classic and Early Christian'' (1882; new edit. 1898);
* ''Gothic and Renaissance Architecture'' (1888, ''Illustrated Handbooks of Art History''), with John Slater (1847–1924).
scottisharchitects.org.uk, ''John Slater''.
/ref>
Family
Smith married in 1858 Catherine, daughter of Joseph Elsey of Highgate
Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross.
Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisati ...
. He was survived by his widow, one daughter, and three sons, of whom Ravenscroft Elsey Smith became in 1899 professor of architecture at King's College, London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
.
Notes
;Attribution
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Thomas Roger
1830 births
1903 deaths
Academics of King's College London
19th-century English architects
English writers
People from Sheffield
Architects from Yorkshire