Tommy Ross, Plumber, Haddington, ca. 1885

This photograph of Thomas M. Ross (1860-1937) was taken in the studio of a professional photographer.  It survives with a handwritten note that describes Ross's participation in several international exhibitions. Ross's note connects him to the London firm of John Smeaton, Plumbers and Sanitary Engineers of Baker Street and Castle Street, Strand, London, which exhibited Stand no.938 at the International Health Exhibition in South Kensington in London in 1884. In addition to Ross’s arrangement of decorative twists and knots, Smeaton’s stand showcased an 'Imperial Spray, Shower, Douche, Rose, and Wave Bath Complete’, a ‘Tip-up Lavatory Apparatus’, and a Bachelor’s Bath and Lavatory combined with wardrobe’.  Such elaborate sanitary fittings are indicative of the novelty associated with indoor bathrooms that were the new innovation that signified middle-class status in housing in the 1880s.

Ross’s note says that his work was also seen at the Industrial Exhibition in Edinburgh in 1886 where it was awarded an Honourable Mention, and that it won a Silver Medal at an un-named exhibition a year later.  Industrial exhibitions offered skilled craftsmen like Ross an important way of finding new clients and attracting commissions.  They were regular fixtures in nineteenth century trade centres and Ross’s eye-catching work must have attracted attention in their visually competitive environments. Considerable skill and sensitive manipulation of materials were needed to maintain a uniform hollow within a contorted pipe. According to Ross’s note, the knot in the centre of this display was made up of a 12 feet length of 2 inch lead waste pipe and the others were twisted from 1 ½ inch and 1 ¼ inch lead pipe respectively.  By the end of the century, machinery that used centrifugal force was used to uniformly, and perhaps more practically, shape the forms of domestic lead pipes. 

Tommy Ross was a well-known plumber and key figure in Haddington society. He became Lord Provost of the town in 1918.