Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a danger ...

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victor ...

and

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest ...

. His great-great-great grand daughter is Queen Camilla.

Background

The son of a

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...

carpenter, he journeyed to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

as ship's carpenter from which he earned sufficient funds to start his own building firm in 1810 on Gray's Inn Road, London where he was one of the first builders to have a 'modern' system of employing all the trades under his own management.

Work

Cubitt's first major building was the London Institution in Finsbury Circus, built in 1815. After this he worked primarily on speculative housing at

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

, and especially at Highbury Park,

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

. His development of areas of

, including Gordon Square and Tavistock Square, began in 1820, for a group of landowners including the Duke of Bedford. 49 Belgrave Square 06

He was commissioned in 1824 by

Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster (27 January 1795 – 31 October 1869), styled The Honourable Richard Grosvenor from 1795 to 1802, Viscount Belgrave from 1802 to 1831 and Earl Grosvenor from 1831 to 1845, was an English pol ...

, to create a great swathe of building in

centred on

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces fo ...

and

, in what was to become his greatest achievement in London.''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 29 Notable amongst this development are the north and west sides of

Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgra ...

, which exemplify Cubitt's style of building and design. After Cubitt's workshops in Thames Bank were destroyed by fire, he remarked "Tell the men they shall be at work within a week, and I will subscribe £600 towards buying them new tools." Cubitt was also responsible for the east front of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

.''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 35 He also built and personally funded nearly a kilometre of the Thames Embankment. He was employed in the large development of Kemp Town in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, and Osborne House on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

, completed in 1851. Cubitt's public works included the provision of public parks, including being an organiser of the Battersea Park Scheme. His work outside London includes the country house

Polesden Lacey Polesden Lacey is an Edwardian house and estate, located on the North Downs at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey, England. It is owned and run by the National Trust and is one of the Trust's most popular properties. This Regency house was ex ...

, near Dorking, Surrey, which he rebuilt to largely its present form in the early 1820s. In 1827 he withdrew from the management of his Gray's Inn Road concern leaving this to his brother

William Cubitt Sir William Cubitt FRS (bapt. 9 October 1785 – 13 October 1861) was an eminent English civil engineer and millwright. Born in Norfolk, England, he was employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. He invented a type o ...

; the firm of Cubitts still carried out the work of Thomas Cubitt and the change robbed neither partner of the credit for their work.

Family

Cubitt had two brothers, the contractor and politician

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and the civil engineer Lewis who designed many houses built by Thomas. Cubitt married Mary Anne Warner (1802–1880), on 25 March 1821 in the church of

St Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it merge ...

and they had at least twelve children – Anne (1820), Mary (1821), Emily (1823), George (1828), Sophia (1830), Fanny (1832), William (1834), Lucy (1835), Caroline (1837), Arthur (1840), and twins Thomas and Charles (1842), although five children predeceased their father. George became a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

, created Baron Ashcombe in 1892. Mary, later Mrs Parker, was a botanist whose botanical specimens are held at the Royal Botanica Gardens, Kew. Thomas through his son, George, is a great-great-great-grandfather of Queen Camilla.

Legacy

Thomas Cubitt Plaque at 13 Lewes Crescent, Kemp Town, Brighton (September 2018)

Cubitt died in 1855 and was taken from Dorking for burial at West Norwood Cemetery on 27 December 1855. After his death,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

said, "In his sphere of life, with the immense business he had in hand, he is a real national loss. A better, kindhearted or more simple, unassuming man never breathed." Another statue of Cubitt can be seen in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughl ...

, opposite the Dorking Halls, as he was favoured there for his architecture on his Denbies estate. In 1883 the business was acquired by Holland & Hannen, a leading competitor, which combination became known as Holland & Hannen and Cubitts, later Holland, Hannen & Cubitts. Restaurants, pubs and other places have been named in his honour.

References and footnotes

;Footnotes ;Citations {{DEFAULTSORT:Cubitt, Thomas 1788 births 1855 deaths Burials at West Norwood Cemetery English carpenters British builders Architects from Norfolk Italianate architecture in the United Kingdom People from Broadland (district) People from Dorking

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

19th-century British businesspeople