James Thomson (1852–1927) was the City Engineer, City Architect, and Housing Director of

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He originally planned an immense Beaux Arts style

Civic Centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains of one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, ...

covering the centre of Dundee. At the onset of

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, his plans were scaled down and he retired in 1924. Thomson was the designer behind the "Kingsway" City Bypass, combined road widening and

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low-income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

, the Craigie Garden City Estate and the first ever district heated housing scheme at Logie. After Thomson's death in 1927 his former assistant,

James MacLellan Brown James MacLellan Brown (21 September 1886 – 25 December 1967) was a Scottish architect who was the city planner of Dundee, Scotland, known for remodelling of Sir John James Burnet's designs (1931) and designing the Mills Observatory (1935). ...

, as Deputy City Architect, remodelled Burnet's designs in 1931.

Early life

A native of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, he was born to Alexander Thomson and Mary Higgins on 9 April 1851. He received professional training in

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

. As a young man, he came to Dundee to join the staff of the Burgh

Surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

. Soon after taking the duty he was employed in connection with major schemes then being executed under the Improvement Act of 1871. Those undertakings, which, to a large extent, transformed the central area of the city, were carried under his personal supervision. The construction of the Perth Road and the first

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

way lines in Dundee were accomplished under his direction.

Career

Thomson became the Assistant Burgh Engineer after the constructions of Perth Road and tramlines. After the death of

William Alexander William or Bill Alexander may refer to: Literature *William Alexander (poet) (1808–1875), American poet and author *William Alexander (journalist and author) (1826–1894), Scottish journalist and author * William Alexander (author) (born 1976), ...

in 1904, he was appointed as City Architect, and in August 1906, he was given the post of City Engineer in succession to Mackison, becoming, in pursuance of the council's Policy of Consolidation, the joint holder of the offices of City Architect and Engineer. In October 1922, the

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decided to separate the offices of City Engineering and City Architect, which the latter office embraced the duties of Housing Director. Thomson was relieved of the office of City Engineer and became City Architect and Housing Director. Thomson retired in May 1924, but was retained in the capacity and continued to engage in professional life in association with his son Frank Thomson. He spent 55 years in the service of the corporation. His fondest hope and expressed desire was to have the Caird Hall Square completed "in his time".

Visionary

The media referred to Thomson as the "creator of innumerable schemes to make Dundee the City Beautiful."The Courier, Pioneer in Town Planning Mr. James Thomson Dies in Caird Hall, Friday 10 November 1927 Thomson's report on the development of the city issued in 1918 was an example of his visions and daring conceptions. He was the man behind the construction of Kingsway City Bypass, combined road widening and

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

clearance, which was proposed, "…so that the city might expand advantageously and scientifically and get away from the old fashioned methods." He planned the Craigie Garden City Estate and the first ever district heated housing scheme at Logie.Thomson's ideas for extending

City Square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rel ...

were developed again in 1924, when the Ecole de Beaux Arts trained Sir John James Burnet was commissioned to produce designs for the east and west wings to

. James Thomson's work enjoyed an international reputation and he was the first engineer of a Scottish municipality to be elected as the President of the Institution of Municipal and County Engineers.

Death

On 10 November 1927, in one of the corridors of

Caird Hall The Caird Hall is a concert auditorium located in Dundee, Scotland. It is a Category A listed building. History The site currently occupied by the building was occupied by a series of closes and tenements. The foundation stone for the building ...

, Thomson collapsed and died. A woman who had been waiting to see the

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

saw him fall in the main corridor. She informed Lord Provost High and S. G. Fraser, with whom he was engaged at the moment, and they ran to his assistance. Thomson made a vain effort to speak but died in the arms of Fraser. Dr. Hunter, who was called, certified that the death to have been due to

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

. At the time of death he was engaged on some of the minor details relating to the scheme for the erection of the East Wing. His funeral took palace in

Balgay Balgay (Gaelic: ''Baile (na) Gaoithe'') is a suburb in the west end of Dundee, Scotland. It is centred around Balgay Hill and Balgay Park, both of which provide extensive green spaces for recreation and nature appreciation. The area is charact ...

Cemetery on 14 November 1927.The Courier, Funeral of Mr. James Thomson, Nove. 15, 1927

Sources

* McKean, Charles and David Walker, ''Dundee: Illustrated Architectural Guide'', Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, Pillans & Wilson Ltd., Reprint 1993. * Dundee public Library Archives. * The Courier, Pioneer in Town Planning Mr. James Thomson Dies in Caird hall, Friday 11 Nov. 1927 * The Courier, Funeral of Mr. James Thomson, Nove. 15, 1927

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, James Architects from Edinburgh Architectural theoreticians 1852 births 1927 deaths History of Dundee People associated with Dundee