Thomas Turnbull (1824–1907) was a notable New Zealand architect. He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1824. After qualifying as an architect, Turnbull moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1851. Then in 1861 he moved to San Francisco, going into partnership with firstly, A H Jordan, and then with Thomas England, taking over the business in 1869 when England died. During his time in San Francisco Turnbull designed several prominent buildings including the first Cliff House (1863), Trinity Church and the Market Street Presbyterian Church. After a large earthquake in 1868, local architects formed the Architectural Association of San Francisco and held a conference to discuss how to build to resist earthquakes. Turnbull became the association's secretary. In 1869 Turnbull designed a large building of four storeys plus a basement and an attic for H H Bancroft & Co, a printing company. The building was brick with an iron front and floors bolted with long iron rods. The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' reported:

"The style of architecture will be entirely different from any other building in this city. ..Every precaution has been made to procure the best material and erect the structure in a manner which will render it as thoroughly earthquake-proof as possible."

Turnbull moved to New Zealand in 1871 and settled in Wellington. He worked for a year for the government's Colonial Architect William Clayton before setting up his own practice. He was the first president of the Wellington Association of Architects, and a member of the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

in 1891. Turnbull designed three of the four buildings which make up the

Old Bank Arcade The Old Bank Arcade is a retail and office complex on a corner site at Lambton Quay, Wellington, New Zealand. The property consists of four buildings built between 1883 and 1904. The most prominent is the Bank of New Zealand building (no. 1) o ...

, St John's Church and St Peter's Church in

Willis Street Willis Street is a prominent street in the central business district of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Along with Courtenay Place, Manners Street and Lambton Quay, the lower reaches of Willis Street form part of the "Golden Mile" ...

, Wesley Methodist Church in Taranaki Street as well as many other commercial premises in Wellington. Turnbull maintained his interest in earthquake-proofing buildings after his arrival in New Zealand. In 1888 he presented a paper at the Philosophical Society in Wellington, asserting that masonry buildings properly constructed with good bricks and mortar, reinforced with iron built into the walls and joists fitted with wrought-iron anchors, would survive a large earthquake. His youngest son, William Turnbull, joined his practice in 1891 and thereafter the firm was known as Thomas Turnbull & Son. Turnbull died in 1907, survived by his wife and five children.

Public buildings in New Zealand designed by Thomas Turnbull (incomplete list)

References

1824 births 1907 deaths New Zealand architects Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Architects from Glasgow Wellington City Councillors 19th-century New Zealand architects New Zealand ecclesiastical architects {{NewZealand-architect-stub