Editing Thomas Cubitt

{{Short description|Master builder in London}}
{{for|the British general|Thomas Cubitt (British Army officer)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox architect
| name                  = Thomas Cubitt
| image                 = Thomascubitt.png
| caption               = 
| birth_date            =  25 February 1788                           
| birth_place           =  [[Buxton, Norfolk]], England
| death_date            =  20 December 1855 (aged 67)
| death_place           = [[Surrey|Denbies, Surrey]], England
| nationality           = British
| practice              = Cubitts
| significant_buildings = The [[London Institution]]<br>[[Buckingham Palace]]<br>[[Osborne House]] 
| significant_projects  = [[Belgrave Square]]<br>[[Lowndes Square]]<br>[[Chesham Place]]<br>[[Gordon Square]]<br>[[Tavistock Square]]<br>[[Eccleston Square]]
| significant_design    = [[Eaton Square]]<br>[[Battersea Park]]
}}

'''Thomas Cubitt''' (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in [[Belgravia]], [[Pimlico]]{{efn|Both of these for clients of the senior, noble, Grosvenors (with [[Duke of Westminster|titles named after Westminster]]), by the end of the century a dukedom}} and [[Bloomsbury]].{{efn|For clients of the senior, noble, Russells (with title [[Duke of Bedford]])}}

==Background==
The son of a [[Norfolk]] carpenter, he journeyed to [[Company rule in India|India]] as a ship's carpenter, from which he earned sufficient funds to start his own building firm in 1810 on [[Gray's Inn Road]], London, where he was one of the first builders to have a 'modern' system of employing all the trades under his own management.<ref>''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 17</ref>

==Work==
[[Image:ThomasCubittStatuePimlico.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of Thomas Cubitt by [[William Fawke]], 1995.  Denbigh Street, London. The twin to this statue is in [[Dorking, Surrey]].]]
[[File:54-56 Highbury Park, Islington.jpg|thumb|54–56 Highbury Park, Islington, last remaining of Cubitt's villas]]
Cubitt's first major building was the [[London Institution]] in [[Finsbury Circus]], built in 1815.<ref>''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 19</ref> After this he worked primarily on speculative housing at [[Camden Town]], [[Islington]], and especially at [[Highbury|Highbury Park]], [[Stoke Newington]].<ref>''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 25</ref> 

His development of areas of [[Bloomsbury]], including [[Gordon Square]] and [[Tavistock Square]], began in 1820, for a group of landowners including the [[John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford|Duke of Bedford]].<ref>''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 27</ref>

[[File:49 Belgrave Square 06.JPG|thumb|House built by Cubitt at [[49 Belgrave Square]], London]]

He was commissioned in 1824 by [[Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster]], to create a great swathe of building in [[Belgravia]] centred on [[Belgrave Square]] and [[Pimlico]], in what was to become his greatest achievement in London.<ref name=page29>''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 29</ref> Notable amongst this development are the north and west sides of [[Eaton Square]], which exemplify Cubitt's style of building and design.<ref name=page29/>

[[File:Statue of Thomas Cubitt in Dorking.jpeg|thumb|right|Statue of Thomas Cubitt by [[William Fawke]], in Reigate Road, Dorking]]
After Cubitt's workshops in Thames Bank were destroyed by fire, he remarked "Tell the men they shall be at work within a week, and I will subscribe £600 towards buying them new tools."<ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Timbs|author-link=John Timbs|title=Curiosities of London: Exhibiting the Most Rare and Remarkable Objects of Interest in the Metropolis|url=https://archive.org/details/curiositieslond01timbgoog|year=1855|publisher=D. Bogue|page=[https://archive.org/details/curiositieslond01timbgoog/page/n58 43]}}</ref>

Cubitt was also responsible for the east front of [[Buckingham Palace]].<ref name=page35>''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 35</ref> He also built and personally funded nearly a kilometre of the [[Thames Embankment]].<ref>''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 31</ref> He was employed in the large development of [[Kemp Town]] in [[Brighton]], and [[Osborne House]] on the [[Isle of Wight]], completed in 1851.<ref name=page35/> Cubitt's public works included the provision of public parks, including being an organiser of the [[Battersea Park]] Scheme.<ref>''Holland & Hannen and Cubitts – The Inception and Development of a Great Building Firm'', published 1920, Page 33</ref> His work outside London includes the country house [[Polesden Lacey]], near Dorking, Surrey, which he rebuilt to largely its present form in the early 1820s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Polesden Lacey |url=https://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/cubitt/2.html |website=The Victorian Web}}</ref>

In 1827 he withdrew from the management of his [[Gray's Inn Road]] concern leaving this to his brother [[William Cubitt (politician)|William Cubitt]]; the firm of Cubitts still carried out the work of Thomas Cubitt and the change robbed neither partner of the credit for their work.<ref name=page35/>

==Family==
Cubitt had two brothers, the contractor and politician [[William Cubitt (politician)|William]] and the civil engineer [[Lewis Cubitt|Lewis]] who designed many houses built by Thomas.<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=6859|title=Cubitt, Thomas|first=Hermione|last=Hobhouse}}</ref>

Cubitt married Mary Anne Warner (1802–1880), on 25 March 1821 in the church of [[St Marylebone Parish Church|St Marylebone]] and they had at least twelve children – Anne (1820), Mary (1821), Emily (1823), George (1828), Sophia (1830), Fanny (1832), William (1834), Lucy (1835), Caroline (1837), Arthur (1840), and twins Thomas and Charles (1842), although five children predeceased their father.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 August 2015 |title=Thomas Cubitt's Wife and Children {{!}} Ranmore War Memorial |url=https://ranmorewarmemorial.info/the-cubitt-family/thomas-cubitt/thomas-cubitts-family-no-2/ |access-date=17 July 2022 |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe|George]] became a [[politician]], created [[Baron Ashcombe]] in 1892. Mary, later Mrs Parker, was a botanist whose botanical specimens are held at the Royal Botanica Gardens, Kew.<ref>{{CiteQ|Q92312565}}</ref>

Thomas through his son, [[George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe|George]], is a great-great-great-grandfather of [[Queen Camilla]].<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.wargs.com/royal/camilla.html
 |title=The ancestry of HRH The Duchess of Cornwall
 |last=Reitwiesner
 |first= William Addams 
 |date=8 February 2022
 |website=www.wargs.com
 |access-date=8 February 2022
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208054906/http://www.wargs.com/royal/camilla.html
 |archive-date=8 February 2022
}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Thomas Cubitt Plaque at 13 Lewes Crescent, Kemp Town, Brighton (September 2018).JPG|thumb|Plaque on Cubitt's house at 13 Lewes Crescent, [[Kemp Town]], [[Brighton]]]]
Cubitt died in 1855<ref name=page35/> and was taken from Dorking for burial at [[West Norwood Cemetery]] on 27 December 1855.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/thomas-cubitt-monument-norwood-cemetery-west-norwood/|title=Thomas Cubitt Monument, Norwood Cemetery|date=February 2018 |publisher=Borough Photos|accessdate=20 May 2019|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123095136/https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/thomas-cubitt-monument-norwood-cemetery-west-norwood/|url-status=live}}</ref>

After his death, [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] said, "In his sphere of life, with the immense business he had in hand, he is a real national loss. A better, kindhearted or more simple, unassuming man never breathed."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ez1ceMrkeoQC&pg=PT65 ''London'' By Stephen Halliday]</ref>

As well as the statue in Denbigh Street, London,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/thomas-cubitt-statue|title=Thomas Cubitt statue|publisher=London Remembers|access-date=24 March 2024}}</ref> another of Cubitt can be seen in [[Dorking]], opposite the Dorking Halls, as he was favoured there for his architecture on his [[Denbies|Denbies estate]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dorkingmuseum.co.uk/news/mary-ann-cubitt-of-denbies-%E2%80%93-a-detective-story.aspx |title=Mary Ann Cubitt of Denbies – a detective story By Mark Cortino with biographical notes by Kathy Atherton |publisher=Dorking Museum |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121012421/http://www.dorkingmuseum.co.uk/news/mary-ann-cubitt-of-denbies-%E2%80%93-a-detective-story.aspx |archivedate=21 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1883 the business was acquired by Holland & Hannen, a leading competitor, which combination became known as Holland & Hannen and Cubitts, later [[Holland, Hannen & Cubitts]].<ref>''Cubitts 1810 – 1975'', published 1975</ref>

Restaurants, pubs and other places have been named in his honour.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cubit House|url=http://www.cubitthouse.co.uk/|accessdate=28 September 2014|archive-date=26 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726210209/http://www.cubitthouse.co.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References and footnotes==
;Footnotes
{{notelist}}
;Citations
{{reflist}}

{{Commons category multi | Thomas Cubitt | Pimlico }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cubitt, Thomas}}
[[Category:1788 births]]
[[Category:1855 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at West Norwood Cemetery]]
[[Category:English carpenters]]
[[Category:British builders]]
[[Category:Architects from Norfolk]]
[[Category:Italianate architecture in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People from Broadland (district)]]
[[Category:People from Dorking]]
[[Category:Cubitt family|Thomas]]
[[Category:19th-century British businesspeople]]