Thomas Grissell (4 October 1801 – 26 May 1874) was an English

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

contractor who was responsible for constructing a number of prestigious buildings in England.

Early life and education

Thomas Grissell was born in Stockwell, South London, the eldest son of Thomas de la Garde Grissell, who worked with the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

. He was educated at St. Paul's School, London and intended to train in medicine. In 1815 his family articled him to Henry Peto, his uncle, a leading public works contractor.

Career

Grissell took to the business and became Peto's partner in 1825. After Henry Peto died in 1830, Grissell took as partner his cousin Samuel Morton Peto, who had married his sister Mary.
Port, M. H., "Grissell, Thomas (1801-1874)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2006, accessed 16 Feb 2007 The new partnership was called Grissell and Peto. Together Grissell and Peto built up a rapidly growing business, controlling all their operations from stone-

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

ing to the manufacture of fittings for their buildings. Grissell claimed to have made innovations in building technique, including a form of braced and bolted timber

scaffolding Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other man-made structures. Scaffolds are widely use ...

. They were awarded the contract for

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

(with

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was a British architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also respon ...

as architect). They next constructed a number of prestigious buildings in London, including

Hungerford Market Hungerford Market was a produce market in London, at Charing Cross on the Strand. It existed in two different buildings on the same site, the first built in 1682, the second in 1832. The market was first built on the site of Hungerford House, ...

in the Strand;

Nelson's Column Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during whic ...

; the

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...

, Conservative Club, Oxford and Cambridge Club,

Clerkenwell Prison Clerkenwell (old) Prison, also known as the Clerkenwell House of Detention or Middlesex House of Detention was a prison in Clerkenwell, London, opened in 1847 and demolished in 1890. It held prisoners awaiting trial. It stood on Bowling Green ...

, the Lyceum Theatre and St. James' Theatre. The firm became engaged in railway building, including parts of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

and the South Eastern Railway. Not liking the risks involved in these massive public works projects, Grissell dissolved the partnership in 1846. Grissell had numerous contracts for work building the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...

, again with Charles Barry as architect. But, due to a dispute about the pricing of some of the refined craftwork, Grissell was not able to fully complete the building.

Private life

One of his sons was Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, the Catholic tractarian. Two of his brothers, Henry and Martin, founded the Regent's Canal Iron foundry and constructed major ironworks. As a result of the profits from his business, Thomas Grissell was able to live well. From about 1847 he lived at 19

Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyd ...

, London in one of a pair of houses designed in Barry's offices and built by Grissell's firm. He used surplus stone selected for the project of the Houses of Parliament. There his family had a staff of 9 servants. In 1850 he bought Norbury Park in Mickleham, Surrey. There he was appointed a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

, and in 1853, high sheriff of the county. While at Norbury Park, he collected Italian and English paintings and sculptures. Thomas died there in 1874 and was buried in the churchyard at St. Michael's Church in Mickleham. He left an estate of under £200,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grissell, Thomas People from Stockwell 1801 births 1874 deaths People educated at St Paul's School, London English civil engineering contractors High Sheriffs of Surrey 19th-century English businesspeople

Early life and education

Career

Private life

See also

References