James Thomson (architect, born 1852)
City Architect of Dundee, Scotland (1852–1927)
James Thomson (1852–1927) was the City Engineer, City Architect, and Housing Director of Dundee, Scotland. He originally planned an immense Beaux Arts style Civic Centre covering the centre of Dundee. At the onset of First World War, 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, 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, as Deputy City Architect, remodelled Burnet's designs in 1931.
Early life
A native of Edinburgh, he was born to Alexander Thomson and Mary Higgins on 9 April 1851. He received professional training in Architecture and Civil Engineering. As a young man, he came to Dundee to join the staff of the Burgh Surveyor. 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.
“James Thomson (architect, born 1852)” enters the record as city Architect of Dundee, Scotland (1852–1927). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what James, Thomson and architect can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1681182. VIAF identifies the subject as 102991234. The Library of Congress control number is no2009175111. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1852, 1927, 1924 and 1931.
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This entry incorporates text from “James Thomson (architect, born 1852)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.