T. Raffles Davison

Thomas Raffles Davison ARIBA (1853 – 5 May 1937), usually credited as Raffles Davison or T. Raffles Davison, was an English architect, architectural illustrator and journalist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work featured in The British Architect and Northern Engineer for over 40 years from 1874, and he became editor of the publication in 1878 until it merged with The Builder in 1919.

Early life

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.

Career

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.

The British Architect

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.

Architectural illustration

Some of his sketches - published in the magazine as Rambling Sketches (also the title of a book published in 1883) - were exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions, and at the Modern Gallery in 1907, in New York City after 1919 and in the RIBA Galleries in 1924. His presentation of architects' designs made him popular with many of the country’s leading architects, some of whom supported a book Record of Life and Work from 1870 to 1926 marking his retirement in 1927, with an introduction by Sir Reginald Blomfield RA. Then Sir Aston Webb wrote: