Thomas Grissell

Infobox Person
name = Thomas Grissell


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birth_date = October 4 1801
birth_place = Stockwell, Surrey, England
death_date = May 26 1874
death_place = Norbury Park, Mickleham,
Surrey
education = St. Paul's School, London
occupation = Public works contractor
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nationality = English
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Thomas Grissell (4 October 1801 - 26 May 1874) was an English public works contractor who was responsible for constructing a number of prestigious buildings in England.

Early life

He was born in Stockwell, Surrey, and was the eldest son of Thomas de la Garde Grissell who worked with the East India Company. He was educated at St. Paul's School, London and intended to train in medicine. However in 1815 he was articled to Henry Peto, his uncle, a leading public works contractor, and became his partner in 1825. When Henry Peto died in 1830 Grissell was joined by Samuel Morton Peto, who had married his sister, Mary.Port, M. H., 'Grissell, Thomas (1801-1874)', "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3289] accessed 16 February 2007.]

Business life

Together Grissell and Peto built up a rapidly growing business, controlling all their operations from stone-quarrying to the manufacture of fittings for their buildings. Grissell claimed to have made innovations in building technique, including a form of braced and bolted timber scaffolding. After gaining a contract for Birmingham Grammar School (with Charles Barry as architect), they constructed a number of prestigious buildings in London, including Hungerford Market in the Strand, Nelson's Column, the Reform Club, Conservative Club, Oxford and Cambridge Club, Clerkenwell Prison, the Lyceum Theatre and St. James' Theatre.

The firm became engaged in railway building, including parts of the Great Western Railway and the South Eastern Railway. However Grissell did not like the risks involved in this area and the partnership was dissolved in 1846. Grissell was involved in a number of contracts in building the Houses of Parliament, again with Charles Barry as architect. However due to a dispute about the pricing of some of the elaborate work, Grissell was not able to fully complete the building.

Private life

As a result of the profits made from his business Grissell was able to live well. From about 1847 he lived at 19 Kensington Gardens, London in one of a pair of houses designed in Barry's offices and built by Grissell's firm using surplus stone from the Houses of Parliament. There he had a staff of 9 servants. In 1850 he bought Norbury Park in Mickleham, Surrey, became a magistrate and in 1854 high sheriff of the county. In Norbury Park he acquired a collection of Italian and English paintings and sculptures. He died there in 1874 and was buried in the churchyard at St. Michael's Church in Mickleham, leaving an estate of under £200,000.

ee also

*Wharncliffe Viaduct – "designed by Brunel, built by Grissell & Peto"

Notes