In the 1850s he completed St Jude's Church (1851), Sussex Terrace (1854/5) and 30-34 Sussex Road (1857). Along with his father, Jacob Owen, and his brother Jeremiah Owen, he lent his entrepreneurial hand to infrastructural projects in the areas including gas supply, the Portsea Canal, railways, the Camber Docks and hospitals. Politics and Portsmouth mayoralty In addition to his work as an architect and developer, Owen was a prominent civic figure.Owen's politics, like that of his brother-in-law Sir Charles Lanyon were instinctively conservative. Historian Norman Gordon has noted that Owen's rise in Portsmouth politics was meteoric in comparison to other civic leaders in Portsmouth. Despite this, his first attempts to enter politics were unsuccessful. In 1835, Owen entered his name for election of the new Borough Council, perceiving a political biased because only Reform or Whig supporters were chosen. At the election the entire nine candidates of the 'Reform' group were elected. Owen came eleventh with 95 votes. Following the Alderman elections of 31 December 1835 a vacancy opened in St Thomas' Ward. Owen found himself facing off against Benjamin Bramble but lost by 177 votes to 111. Despite these losses, Owen remained a keen political commentator in Portsmouth politics through his development work. He became Mayor of Portsmouth twice (in 1847 and 1862) and also served as a magistrate. Memorials In 2010 a statue of Owen was unveiled, located near the University Library, Cambridge Road, Portsmouth. An English Heritage Blue Plaque was placed at Dovercourt, 36 Kent Road, Southsea, Owen's former home, inscribed with 'Thomas Ellis Owen, 1805–1862, Architect and Developer of Southsea lived here from 1849'. References Further reading External links https://web.archive.org/web/20120317024127/http://www.thomasellisowen.co.uk/ 1805 births 1862 deaths 19th-century English architects People from Middlesex Architects from Portsmouth Mayors of Portsmouth