| Administrative History | Architectural practice, Engineers. Started: 1825, Ended: 1845.
Thomas Grainger was born near Edinburgh 12 November 1794, the son of Hugh Grainger and Helen Marshall. He was educated at Edinburgh University and at the age of sixteen entered the office of John Leslie, land surveyor, in Edinburgh. He commenced practice on his own account in 1816 as a civil engineer and surveyor, principally concerned with road construction and improvement. He became a prominent advocate for the introduction of railways from 1823 onwards, and in that same year he took on John Miller as an assistant, taking him into partnership two years later.
Miller had been born in Ayr on 26 July 1805, the son of James Miller, builder, and Margaret Caldwell. He had been educated at Ayr Academy and commenced his professional training in the office of Mr C D Gairdner, solicitor, at the age of twelve, but after a five-year apprenticeship had decided to train as a land surveyor, entering Grainger's office.
The practice of Grainger & Miller was concerned almost exclusively with railway engineering in Scotland and England, the two partners working separately although remaining in partnership until c. 1847. Grainger joined the Institution of Civil Engineers as a Member in 1829, and Miller was elected an Associate in June 1830, and Member in May 1832
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