Walter Aubrey Thomas (1864,

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, Cheshire – 1934, Wirral, Cheshire) (also known as Aubrey Thomas) was an English architect who practised from an office in

Dale Street Dale Street is a thoroughfare in Liverpool, England, in the Commercial Centre conservation area. The street together with Castle Street, Old Hall Street, Victoria Street and Water Street are the main commercial streets and occupy an area of ...

, Liverpool. For his training he was articled to the Liverpool architect Francis Doyle, and established his own independent practice in about 1876. His works consisted mainly of commercial buildings. He has been described as "the most individual Liverpool architect of the early 1900s". At least seven of his works are designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s, and these are included in the list below, of which the most notable is the Grade I listed

Royal Liver Building The Royal Liver Building is a Grade I listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Cunard Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's '' Three Graces'', which line the ...

. Sharples and Pollard in the ''

Pevsner Architectural Guides The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of Great Britain and Ireland. Begun in the 1940s by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the original Buildings of England series were published b ...

'' state that "his work shows admirable inventiveness and stylistic variety, as well as ambition matched by technological resourcefulness". In 1886, Walter Aubrey Thomas married Maud Paris. Her family were said to be of Greek extraction. Together, they had seven children: Walter Glegge, who died in 1907 at the age of 21. Louise (Lulu), followed by Dorrit, Winifred (Winsome), Edward (Bill), Oliver and Humphrey. Despite all of his commitments, W A Thomas appears to have been a good father. The boys were educated by home tutors and the girls were sent to Cheltenham Ladies College. The family home, designed by their father, was called Bleak House – now Brooke House – at Parkgate. Later, another house was built for them at Dunstan Wood. He died on the 13th September 1934. Great grandchildren include Sophie Thomas, Edward Thomas & Oliver Aubrey-Thomas

Key

Works

References

Bibliography * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Walter Aubrey Architects from Liverpool People from Birkenhead 1864 births 1934 deaths