Thomas Robert Bilbow [also known as Thomas R. Bilbow and as Thomas Bilbow] was born in North Walsham, Norfolk, England on 15 June 1893. Nothing is known about his training as an architect. He was active in the profession from the 1920s until at least the 1960s. In 1943 he was appointed architectural assistant to London Transport. He co-designed, with architects Kenneth James Hyde Seymour (1910-1999) and Alfred Merrill (1896-1983), the main factory building at London Transport's Aldenham Bus Overhaul Works. He also designed Grange Hill Station in Grange Hill, Essex in 1948, and with Adie, Button & Partners he designed Stockwell Bus Garage for London Transport in 1953
Bilbow was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1941. He died on 26 July 1983. At the time of his death he was living in Holt, Norfolk. His death was registered in Ipswich, Suffolk.