Papers of Thomas Ross

GB 231 MS 2820 Notes made by Thomas Ross on Stirling Castle; Marr's Wark , or Lodging; and on Stirling Parish Church, c 1911 - 1914. Possibly used by W. Douglas Simpson (1896 - 1968), Librarian, Aberdeen University, when compiling notes on Stirling Parish Church in 1964 (see GB 231 MS 2818/12), where reference is made to restoration work there by Thomas Ross in 1911 - 1914.

GB 231 MS 2910 Papers of Thomas Ross, architect, c 1890 - 1921, principally plans and sketches of castles and other buildings; with some related material from W. Douglas Simpson (1896 - 1968), Librarian, Aberdeen University.

GB 231 MS 3169 Collection of plates and related papers illustrating Scottish architecture, bound into a single volume (257 leaves), 1901

Edinburgh architect, Thomas Ross (1839 - 1930) was in partnership with David MacGibbon (1831 - 1902), architect to the National Bank of Scotland and to the Edinburgh Merchant Company, from 1872 until 1902. Together, they worked on commissions for the Caledonian Insurance Company buildings at 15 and 17 George Street, Edinburgh (at present, the George International Hotel), the Edinburgh Royal Maternity Hospital, and restoration work on Beauly Priory, although they became most widely known through the success of their published works on Scottish architecture. In the late nineteenth century they undertook the first comprehensive survey of Scottish vernacular architecture, and published their results in The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century, 5 vols (Edinburgh: Douglas, 1887-92); and The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland from the Earliest Christian Times to the Seventeenth Century, 3 vols (Edinburgh: Douglas, 1896-97). Following the success of this work, Ross went on to become a founder commissioner of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland in 1908.

Ross also edited (with Robert Rowand Anderson, and William T. Oldrieve) Examples of Scottish Architecture from the 12th to the 17th Century: a series of reproductions from the National Art Survey drawings, 4 vols (Edinburgh: Waterston, 1921-33)

None observed - listing in process

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GB 231 MS 2820: Found among papers of W. Douglas Simpson (1896 - 1968), Librarian, Aberdeen University, when Simpson Collection (GB 231 MS 2818) was being catalogued, in Sept 1973. Accessioned Sept 1973; GB 231 MS 2820: Found among papers of W. Douglas Simpson (1896 - 1968), Librarian, Aberdeen University, when Simpson Collection (GB 231 MS 2818) was being catalogued, in Sept 1973. Accessioned Sept 1973; GB 231 MS 2910: date and source not recorded. Accessioned c 1977; GB 231 MS 2910: date and source not recorded. Accessioned c 1977; GB 231 MS 3169: gifted to the University in 1930, by W. Douglas Simpson. Accessioned as archive in 1984.

Very brief collection level description available on Aberdeen University Library Catalogue, accessible online http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/library/

No copies known

Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation.

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Head of Special Libraries and Archives (e-mail: speclib@abdn.ac.uk) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

This material has been appraised in line with normal procedures

Each of the deposits described above appears to have been used by W. Douglas Simpson (1896 - 1968), Librarian, Aberdeen University, for his own extensive research on Scottish architecture. It seems likely that he obtained the papers for his own research purposes, and that they remained in his custody until his death in 1968.

No accruals expected

Papers of W. Douglas Simpson (1896 - 1968), Librarian, University of Aberdeen (GB 231 MS 2818)

The Simpson Collection (ref. Sim) of printed books, being the working library of W. Douglas Simpson, Librarian, University of Aberdeen, contains a number of pre-publication proof copies of items from the major MacGibbon and Ross publications.

The material described above was probably used by Ross and MacGibbon in their publications on Scottish architecture, but further details cannot be established until the collections have been fully listed.

This material is original