Despite being born in Scotland, Thomason was from an established Birmingham family; his grandfather was Sir Edward Thomason (the first knighted Brummie) who was a manufacturer from the 1790s.
Thomason was trained by Charles Edge.
A SELECTION OF THOMASON'S WORK
Temperance Hall, 8 Temple Street
The Temperance Hall was built in 1860. The temperance movement had come to Birmingham in the early 1830s and advocated moderation and/or abstinence from drinking. This was the first custom-built premises for the temperance movement in the town, but the interest in the movement waned at the end of the Victorian period. The building has been replaced by C. E. Bateman's 1933 Birmingham Law Society building, though traces of the original remain.
Union Club, 85-89 Colmore Row
Although initially built in 1870, Thomason altered the facades in 1885 to match the new buildings that were being built up along Colmore Row; as can be seen in the design drawing below, the landscape was still that of small Georgian terraces. Altered since with shopfronts in about 1968, and roof/storey alteration in the 1980s.
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| Chosen design drawing for the Union Club, 1865. |
Council House and Art Gallery, Victoria Square
After many long delays with the land dating back to the early 1850s, the Council House was finally built between 1874 and 1878. The Art Gallery part was added between 1881 and 1885. Thomason was asked to develop his original designs in order to create a building more matched to the nearby Town Hall.
Lewis's Department Store, Corporation Street & Bull Street Corner
Opened in 1886 for Lewis's department store and demolished in 1929 when Lewis's moved and rebuilt the larger store that stands today.
