Greeves, Thomas Affleck 1917 - 1997

Thomas Affleck Greeves [also known as Tom Greeves] was born in London, England on 4 June 1917. After a year at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London, he attended Cambridge School of Architecture.  His studies were interrupted by World War Two in which he served in the Royal Engineers. He was attached to the Indian Army and while in India visited the Gothic buildings designed by Gilbert Scott for the University of Bombay.  Following the war he returned to London and completed his studies at the Architectural Association.  He was subsequently employed as an architect by various architectural practices, including Lanchester & Lodge, Cachmaille-Day, and Felix Goldsmith, but never set up his own practice.

Greeves was a consummate architectural draughtsman. A design by him for "A Monument to Commemorate the Passing of the Good Old Days of Architecture" was awarded first prize in a competition organised by the Architects' Benevolent Society. He exhibited his drawings and sketches at the Royal Academy in London. Solo exhibitions of his work were also shown at the Robin Garton Gallery in London in 1978, and at Garton & Cooke Gallery in London in 1987. Notable among his drawings was a series of buildings in decay inspired by Piranesi.

In 1950 he was elected an Assocuiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) and that year married Margaret Eleanor Pryce (1924-2015), later known as Eleanor Greeves, whom he had met at the Architectural Association.  They settled in Bedford Park, London and were actively involved in a campaign to conserve many of the buildings in the Park. This led to their formation of the Bedford Park Society.  Thomas Greeves was also a founder-member of the Victorian Society in 1957. He died in London on 31 August 1997.