Thomas Gildard (nicknamed Gildey) was a 19th-century Scottish architect and author. In a short career as a private architect alongside Robert Macfarlane, before entering public service as deputy to Glasgow`s Master of Works, buildings designed by him and his professional partner are : the Clyde Thread Works, also known as Clyde Thread Mills; Belgrave Terrace on the southside of Great Western Road, Glasgow; Ardenvhor fronting the Gareloch; and in 1857/58 an Italianate warehouse in the Trongate, Glasgow for Archibald Blair, two floors of which opened on 25 December 1859 as the Britannia Music Hall (which continues today).

Life

His family were from Luss near

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of C ...

but he was born in a cottage hospital at Bonhill to the south. His father John Gildard owned a local hotel. In December 1838 he was apprenticed to David Hamilton 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 ...

to train as an architect. He entered a partnership Robert Macfarlane, son of cotton merchants, in 1852, who later married his sister Eliza. Sadly both Eliza and Robert died of consumption in 1862. Gildard then went to work with John Carrick, who had recently become Glasgow's Master of Works. His work began to concentrate on his writings rather than his buildings. He is noted for a strong condemnation of Presbyterian Gothic in his paper "Church Architecture" of June 1856, and for strong condemnation of the National Monument Committee in their treatment of his lifelong friend,

John Thomas Rochead John Thomas Rochead (28 March 1814 – 7 April 1878) was a Scottish architect. He is most noteworthy on a national scale for having been the designer of the Wallace Monument. Life He was born in Edinburgh, the son of John Rochead and Cather ...

, in relation to the committee's failure to pay Rochead for his work on the

Wallace Monument The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a 67 metre tower on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th- and 14th-century Scottish hero ...

. He was a friend of

Alexander "Greek" Thomson Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was l ...

and the Mossman family.Dictionary of Scottish Architects: Gildard He died of

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

at home, 133 Berkeley Street, Glasgow, on 5 December 1895. He is buried in

Glasgow Necropolis The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral (St. Mungo's Cathedral). Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here. Typical for the period, only ...

, his monument being designed by the Mossmans with a low-relief portrait head by William Shirreffs.

Architectural works

*Clyde Thread Works, Glasgow (1854) also known as Clyde Thread Mills, Main Street, Bridgeton at Rutherglen Bridge built for John Dick & Sons *Belgrave Terrace, Great Western Road, Glasgow (1856) *Ardenvohr, Rhu, Gareloch (1858) built for Colin Dunlop Wilson, son of ironmaster and coalmaster John Wilson of Dundyvan, Lanarkshire *Trongate, Glasgow warehouse for Archibald Blair 1857/58, part of which first opened in late 1859 as the Britannia Music Hall

Written works

Writings by Gildard include: *Architectural Excursions (1867) *Obituary to

in "Building News", 26 March 1875 *Mr.

Alexander Thomson Alexander "Greek" Thomson (9 April 1817 – 22 March 1875) was an eminent Scottish architect and architectural theorist who was a pioneer in sustainable building. Although his work was published in the architectural press of his day, it was l ...

, British Architect (1875) *Memoirs of John Carrick (1890) *Memoirs of

(1890) *Memoirs of

John Mossman John G. Mossman (London 1817–1890) was one of a number of English sculptors who dominated the production and teaching of sculpture in Glasgow for 50 years after his arrival with his father and brothers from his native London in 1828. His fa ...

(1892) *An Old Glasgow Architect on Some Older Ones (1895)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gildard, Thomas 1822 births 1895 deaths 19th-century Scottish architects People from Argyll and Bute Scottish memoirists Burials at the Glasgow Necropolis