Thomas Simpson (architect)

Thomas Simpson
Born	1825 Scotland
Died	1908
Occupation	Architect
Practice	Thomas Simpson & Son
Buildings	Dials Congregational Church, Brighton (demolished)
Projects	Schools for Brighton and Preston School Board

Thomas Simpson (1825–1908) was a British architect associated with the seaside town of Brighton. As architect to the Brighton and Preston School Board and the equivalent institution in neighbouring Hove, he designed "a distinguished group of board schools" during the late 19th century, when the provision of mass education was greatly extended. Many of these schools survive and some have listed status. He also worked on five Nonconformist chapels for various Christian denominations, using a wide variety of materials and architectural styles. He was the father of Sir John William Simpson and Gilbert Murray Simpson, who both became architects.

Simpson was born in 1825 in Scotland, where he trained as an architect. After travelling in Germany, he later moved to Brighton and he started his professional career articled to James Charnock Simpson, his uncle. He married Clara Hart and had two sons: John William Simpson (born in 1858) and Gilbert Murray Simpson (1869). They both had long architectural careers: John, who designed public buildings and monuments across Britain, was articled to his father in 1875, as was Gilbert in 1886.

Early in his career, Simpson travelled around and studied in Germany—whose approach to mass education and the architecture of its buildings informed his later work on board schools—and later worked alongside Joseph Butler, an architect who specialised in churches. At the time Butler was working in Chichester and was employed as surveyor to Chichester Cathedral. Simpson then became William Butterfield's assistant at his architectural firm in London. After another period working for his uncle, he started his own architectural practice and by 1868 had his office at 16 Ship Street in The Lanes. He entered into a partnership with Henry Branch, and later took on Gilbert as a full partner after he had served his apprenticeship (the practice was known as Thomas Simpson & Son from 1890.)

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