Initially educated to be a lawyer’s clerk Thomson’s potential to be a great architect was recognised by the Glasgowian architect Robert Foote who had, himself, been an ‘ordinary’ working man starting life as a plasterer and builder. An apprenticeship was set up after Foote had seen some of his drawings.

Following Foote’s retirement because of ill-health Thomson transferred to the practice of John Baird snr and later, in 1849, he set up a partnership with John Baird jnr. Thomson and Baird were also related by marriage (wives Jane & Jessie Nicholson) and this may have been why they decided that they needed to build their own, separate reputations. So between 1856 and 1871 Thomson set up a partnership with his younger brother George (working under the name of A & G Thomson).

Throughout his life he worked on churches & monuments, houses & warehouses around Scotland such as The Knowe in Pollokshields, St Vincent Street UP Church and the Scottish Exhibition Rooms on Bath Street in Glasgow.

Alexander Thomson’s style was distinctive because of his interest in the reinterpretation of the grace of ancient design schemes using modern materials such as cast-iron and plate glass. Although he was nicknamed ‘Greek’ he, in fact, drew inspiration from Greece, India and Egypt – despite the fact that he rarely left Scotland! However, his fantastic imagination and the ability to call on some excellent secondary sources such as works of David Roberts and John Martin meant that this didn’t present any problems.

Recently renovated the Bucks Head Building on Argyle Street in Glasgow is a classic example of his style (as are the sadly neglected Egyptian Halls, Union Street, Glasgow). Thomson was also responsible for the construction of many of the familiar streets of tenements, particularly on the south side of the Clyde, which were demolished after the Second World War.

Although his style is recognisable (often built from red or blonde sandstone from local sources) it is difficult to identify which buildings he actually worked on as there is no definitive record. Some, for instance, may have been designed by his students, whilst others may have been the work of his last partner (Robert Turnbull) after his death in 1875. To further complicate matters there were occasions, it is known, when Thomson, working to order, replicated adjacent structures frontages.