Name

Thomas Raffles Davison

Designation
Illustrator Hon architect
Born
1853
Place of Birth
Stockton-on-Tees
Location
Manchester London
Died
1937

  • Born      1853 at Stockton-on-Tees
  • Died       5 May 1937 at    Woldingham

Thomas Raffles Davison was born in Stockton-on-Tees in 1853, the son of a Congregational minister.  Educated privately at Shrewsbury, he showed a rare talent for drawing from an early age and it was partly for this reason that he was articled to the architect W H Spaull in Oswestry. On completion of his articles he worked for a time as architectural assistant in offices in Nottingham and in the office of H J Paull of Manchester.  Although he subsequently carried out some minor architectural commissions on his own account, it was his drawing skills that would lead him to become the leading architectural illustrator of his generation. His attractive presentation of architect’s designs, particularly in competition drawings, made his services much sought after and, in this way, Davison made the acquaintance of many of the country’s leading architects. Writing in 1927, Sir Aston Webb commented “To architects he has been known for nearly half a century for his peculiar power in transferring their elevations and sections into perspective form, not only understandable by the layman but truthfully portraying the design of the architect.” (1)

Davison’s arrival in Manchester in the 1870's coincided with a move by a number of leading Manchester architects to set up an architectural magazine to rival the Builder which they perceived (probably correctly) as purely the mouthpiece of the London architectural profession.  Thus in 1874 “The British Architect and Northern Engineer” was born to act, initially at least, as a showcase for the work of Manchester architects. (3). Davison soon became a major contributor to the magazine, followed by his appointment as editor in 1878, a position he held for almost forty years until its merger with the Builder in 1916. However, it proved impossible to sustain a purely provincial architectural magazine. The first company was wound up in 1876 and within a few years publication was transferred to London. His connection with the magazine provided Davison with the opportunity, unusual at the time, to travel widely in the United Kingdom and Europe while providing the opportunity to indulge his love of sketching. During his professional life Davison made  thousands of such drawings, many of which were published in the British Architect,  under the title “Rambling Sketches.” Whilst editor of the British Architect Davison also published a number of books including “Pen and Ink Notes, Glasgow Exhibition" dedicated to Queen Victoria, and his work was frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions. In 1896, his contribution to the profession was recognised when Raffles Davison he became an Honorary Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects.Following the merger with the Builder, Raffles Davison continued to act in a consultative capacity for some years, his retirement marked by the publication in 1927 of his “Record of Life and Work from 1870 to 1926,” with a forward by Sir Aston Webb and introduction by Sir Reginald Blomfield RA. The guarantors for this book included many of the leading architects of the day.

He died on 5 May 1937, aged 84. at his home, “Whistler’s Hollow,” Woldingham, the house he had designed over thirty years earlier. Perhaps speaking of his own career, Davison had commented, “It would be idle to deny that to an architect the allurement of the art of drawing is sometimes divergent from his architecture. The consolation is that some men are so allured that they end up making very good drawings which are stimulative and useful, whilst they are saved from doing some very bad architecture.” (2)

Notes
1              Sir Aston Webb Forward to “Raffles Davison Life and Work 1870-1926" Page xiii
2              Raffles Davison. The Art of Drawing. A paper read before the Liverpool Architects Society on 3 December 1906 reproduced in “Raffles Davison Life and Work 1870-1926"
3              The choice of title could have unforeseen consequences. The Manchester architect and later president of the MSA, John Brooke  commissioned Raffles Davison to produce illustrations of a residence that he had recently completed at Disley in Cheshire. Upon arrival, Davison duly presented his business card, “Raffles Davison, The British Architect,” and was promptly refused entry. It was, declared the lady of the house, a gross impertinence for any man to dub himself “The British Architect.” [Cecil Young: Reminiscences of the Manchester Society of Architects]

Publications
Rambling Sketches
Modern Homes (Bell & Company)
"Pen and Ink Notes, Glasgow Exhibition" dedicated to Queen Victoria and published by Virtue & Co;
"Memorials of the Past;"
"Port Sunlight" published 1916

Address
1877-1878    T Raffles Davison, artist, 1 St Peter's Square, Manchester (Slater Directory)
1879        British Architect and Northern Engineer  7, Cross Street, Manchester, England  
1880        British Architect and Northern Engineer 35 Bouvrie Street, Fleet Street London
1881        British Architect etc. 114, Fleet Street, London, and 7 Cross Street Manchester  
1885        British Architect etc 15, King William Street, Strand, London,
1889        British Architect etc. 22, Bedford Street, London, England
1901        British Architect 33, King Street, Covent Garden, London, England 
1919        Builder 4 Catherine Street Strand WC2 (RA)
1933        Builder 4 Catherine Street Strand WC2 (RA)

Residence
1881        372 Great Cheetham Street East, Higher Broughton Salford, Lancashire (Census)
1881        Flixton, Lancashire (W R Davison birthplace)
1905-1906    Kingshaw Woldingham Surrey (RA)
1924        Whistlers Hollow Woldingham Surrey (RA)

Obituary         Builder v152, 7,14 May 1937, p 967, 1024
   
Reference    Who's Who in Architecture 1926
Reference    Raffles Davison : a record of his life and work from 1870 to 1926
Reference    Jan Ward: Raffles and Rupert Davison -  The Ideal Home, Bourne Society, 2016