JACKSON, Sir Thomas Graham (1835-1924), a leading ecclesiastical architect in London, Engl., and the recipient of the prestigious Gold Medal from the Royal Inst. of British Architects in 1910. Born in Hampstead, London on 21 December 1835, he articled with Sir George Gilbert Scott from 1858 and opened his own office in 1862. Over the next 60 years he was remarkably prolific, overseeing the restoration and remodelling of dozens of ecclesiastical buildings in England, as well as preparing plans for new churches, colleges and schools, many of them in Oxford. In Canada he was approached by church authorities in Alberta who asked him to prepare a design for St. Faith's Anglican Church, 93rd Street N.W. near 118th Avenue, EDMONTON, ALTA. His proposal was '....intended to replace temporary buildings erected for the mission there'. Jackson presented a sophisticated Gothic Revival design, complete with a free-standing campanile (Building News [London], cviii, 30 April 1915, 493-4, descrip. with double page plate perspective). His scheme proved to be far too ambitious for the modest budget of the congregation, and was promptly shelved, but not before Jackson had an opportunity to exhibit the drawings for the Alberta commission at the Royal Academy in London (Algernon Graves, Royal Academy Exhibitors 1905-1970, Vol. iv, 124).
Jackson was also a prolific author, producing no less than twelve books on contemporary architectural styles in late 19th C. England. He was a leading exponent of the Gothic, and his books include Modern Gothic Architecture (1873), as well as Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture (1913), and the classic three-volume work entitled Gothic Architecture in France, England and Italy (1915). Jackson died at Wimbledon, London on 7 November 1924 (obituary Builder [London], cxxvii, 14 Nov. 1924, 748, 753; and 12 Dec. 1924, 926; obituary R.I.B.A. Journal, xxii, Nov. 1924, 49; biog. Directory of British Architects 1834-1900, 1993, 492-3; MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1982, ii, 473-4; biog. Dictionary of National Biography, 2004, xxvix, 531-33). A portrait photograph, biography and list of works by Jackson appeared in Building News [London], civ, 3 Jan. 1913, 5.