Thomas Cubitt
| Thomas Cubitt | |
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| Born | 25 February 1788 Buxton, Norfolk, England |
| Died | 20 December 1855 (aged 67) Denbies, Surrey, England. |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings | The London Institution, Buckingham Palace, Osborne House |
| Projects | Belgrave Square, Lowndes Square, Chesham Place |
| Design | Eaton Square, Battersea Park |
Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was an English master builder in the second quarter of the 19th century who mostly worked in London but also carried out several projects in other parts of England.
The son of a Norfolk carpenter, he journeyed to India as ship's carpenter from which he earned sufficient funds to start his own building firm in 1810 on Gray's Inn Road, London where he was one of the first builders to have a 'modern' system of employing all the trades under his own management.
Cubitt's first major building was the London Institution in Finsbury Circus, built in 1815. After this he worked primarily on speculative housing at Camden Town, Islington, and especially at Highbury Park, Stoke Newington (now part of Hackney).
His development of areas of Bloomsbury, including Gordon Square and , began in 1820, for a group of landowners including the Duke of Bedford.
He was commissioned in 1824 by Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster, to create a great swathe of building in Belgravia centred on Belgrave Square and Pimlico, in what was to become his greatest achievement in London. Notable amongst this development are the north and west sides of Eaton Square, which exemplify Cubitt's style of building and design.
After Cubitt's workshops in Thames Bank were destroyed by fire, he remarked "Tell the men they shall be at work within a week, and I will subscribe £600 towards buying them new tools."
Cubitt was also responsible for the east front of Buckingham Palace. He also built and personally funded nearly a kilometre of the Thames Embankment. He was employed in the large development of Kemp Town in Brighton, and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, completed in 1851. Cubitt's public works included the provision of public parks, including being an organiser of the Battersea Park Scheme.
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