Thomas Raffles Davison

• Name — Thomas Raffles Davison • Born — 1853 • Birthplace — Stockton-on-Tees, England • Died — 5 May 1937 • Place of death — Woldingham, Surrey, England • Occupation — Architect, illustrator, editor of The British Architect • Known for — Architectural illustration

He was born in Stockton-on-Tees in 1853, the second 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 arrival in Manchester coincided with a move by several local architects to set up an architectural magazine to rival the London-based Builder. Davison became a major contributor to The British Architect and Northern Engineer and was appointed editor in 1878. In 1896, by which date the magazine had relocated to London, Davison became an Honorary Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects; he was later active in the work of the London Society.

Raffles Davidson died on 5 May 1937, aged 84. at his home, “Whistler’s Hollow,” Woldingham, Surrey. This house had been designed by W Rupert Davison, although has also been credited to T. Raffles Davison himself. Davison had himself 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."

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• Illustration — Lewis War Memorial, Stornoway • 1920 Stornoway Town Improvement Scheme Stornoway, Lewis, Ross and Cromarty Scotland • 1926 King's College, Elphinstone Hall, Aberdeen, Scotland Prepared perspective exhibited at Royal Scottish Academy later reproduced in The Builder • 1927 Stornoway War Memorial Stornoway, Lewis, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland In conjunction with Viscount Leverhulme