Yeoville Thomason

Birmingham Council House

Singers Hill Synagogue

The Union Club, Bamford's Trust House, 85-89 Colmore Row//Newhall Street

Henry Richard Yeoville Yardley Thomason (17 Jul 1826–19 Jul 1901) was an architect in Birmingham, England. He was born in Edinburgh to a Birmingham family. Thomason set up his own practice in Birmingham 1853–54.

Life

He was a grandson of Sir Edward Thomason, a silversmith and medallist in Birmingham, and son of Henry Botfield Thomason and Elzabeth Yardley. He married Harriett Rollason, daughter of Abel Rollason, on 12 March 1863 in St Barnabas' Church, Erdington.^[1] The marriage produced the following children:

• Florence Mary Thomason (b.1865)
• Edith Harriett Thomason (b.1867)
• Philip Rollason Thomason (b.1869)

Career

He was a pupil of Charles Edge, and after qualifying as architect he worked for the borough surveyor. He designed the Council House after winning a competition. He retired in 1896.

Significant works

He designed, amongst others:^[2]

• In Birmingham:
  • The Council House and its immediate extension, the original Art Gallery, 1874–85 ^{Grade II*}
  • Singers Hill Synagogue, 1856 ^{Grade II*}
  • Great Hampton Works, 80–82 Great Hampton Street, Hockley, c 1880^{[2] Grade II*}
  • Union Club, 85–89 Colmore Row, on the corner with Newhall Street, now called Bamford's Trust House, 1870. ^{Grade II}
  • Birmingham Banking Company, Bennetts Hill, Birmingham. Designed new entrance in 1868. Became Midland Bank.^{[3] Grade II}
  • 38 Benetts Hill, 1868–70^{[2] Grade II}
  • Highcroft Hospital, Main Building, Highcroft Road, Erdington (former Aston Union Workhouse). 1869^{[2] Grade II} and ^{Grade II}
  • Birmingham Town and District Bank, 63 Colmore Row, Birmingham. (1867–69) Head Office later to became part of Barclays Bank, facade later remodelled by Peacock and Bewlay.^[4]
  • Lewis's department store, Corporation Street, 1886, (demolished 1929 and replaced by a seven storey building), Birmingham's first iron and concrete building^[5]
  • Acocks Green Chapel, Warwick Green, Acocks Green, 1860 (closed in 1956).

• Elsewhere:
  • Public Hall, High Street, Smethwick, (1866–67), now the Public Library.^[6]

References

1. ↑ Parish Registers for St Barnabas' Church, Erdington. 1863
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Images of England website
3. ↑ Birmingham, Douglas Hickman, 1970 Studio Vista. p25
4. ↑ Birmingham, Douglas Hickman, 1970 Studio Vista. p35
5. ↑ Birmingham Buildings, The Architectural Story of a Midland City, Bryan Little, 1971, ISBN 0-7153-5295-4
6. ↑ The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 Penguin. p81

• The Victorian Society in Birmingham (Three City Trails, Victorian Architects of Birmingham)
• Birmingham Hebrew Congregation - biographical detail