Thomas Ross paintings

Thomas Ross was born in Perthshire in1839, the son of a tenant farmer. He was educated at Errol Parish School and Kinnoul Academy before moving to Glasgow around 1885 to become an Apprentice Architect to Alexander Kirkland. When Kirkland closed his Glasgow practice Ross moved to the offices of Charles Wilson in Edinburgh. In his early years in Edinburgh, Ross's closest friend was Alexander Graham Bell, a distant relative, with whom he remained in touch with until Bell's death in 1922.

In 1862, Thomas Ross Ross was employed as an assistant to architect David MacGibbon, and in 1872 they went into partnership. As well as working on their architectural commissions MacGibbon and Ross spent a considerable amount of time travelling the length and breadth of Scotland making sketches and collecting information about the country's architectural heritage. This resulted in two of the best publications ever written about Scottish architecture. The Castlellated and Domestic Architecture, in 5 volumes between 1887 and 1892, and The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland in 3 volumes from 1896 to 1897.
In 1908 Ross became a founder commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland [RCAHMS].

Alfred MacGibbon fell ill in 1914 and dissolved the partnership. Ross continued to undertake small jobs that interested him from his home in Saxe-Coburg Place. His main occupation continued to be Commission business and it was while studying Rossend Castle, Inverkeithing that he fell foul of wartime restrictions when he was arrested and later fined 5 shillings for "sketching in a prohibited area".

This exhibition brings together unique watercolour paintings Ross completed on his various travels around Scotland and England and focus on landmark domestic and ecclesiastical buildings, many of which appear in his classic architectural texts.

In 1918 Ross became Professor of Antiquities at the Royal Edinburgh Academy. He died in 1930 aged 91.