Thomas Cane was born in Brighton, Sussex. Prior to his 1873 arrival in Canterbury he had trained as an architect and quantity surveyor under the firm of Banks and Barry. He was also employed by one of the masters of the Victorian Gothic Revival architectural style, Sir Gilbert Scott, who designed Christchurch's Anglican Cathedral. Cane travelled widely throughout Europe visiting France, Germany, Belgium and Holland to study medieval architecture. He developed his skills as a watercolourist while working as an architect, which would have required producing detailed sketches of building designs. Cane was the architect who designed the famous Lyttelton Timeball Station damaged by the February 2011 earthquake then later destroyed by a second quake in June. He died in Christchurch in 1905 - his works rarely appear for sale. This is one of the finest examples to appear on the market and is in excellent condition.