Alfred Ernest Anthony was born in Hackney, London, England in 1852. He was a nephew of the architect John Usher (1822-1904) and went to work as an assistant at his practice in Bedford, Bedfordshire in the 1870s. In January 1880 his uncle took him into partnership as Usher & Anthony.
Virtually all the commissions undertaken by the practice were in the Bedford area. This included a mansion and lodges at Clapham Park, Bedford for Mr. James Howard (1873); Mill Street Baptist Chapel and restoration of the Howard Chapel in Bedford; Baptist Chapel in Rothsay Road, Bedford; the Bedford Liberal Club; the Woodlands in Clapham, Bedford; and Great Barford House in Bedford.
Usher & Anthony were the first surveyors to the Trustees of the St. John’s Hospital in Bedford and were responsible for laying out Waldeck Avenue and De Parys Avenue in Bedford; and Bedford Cemetery
By the mid-1880s Usher had significantly reduced his involvement in the practice, and from then on, Anthony effectively ran the office.
Usher died at his residence, Hiawatha, 6 Goldington Road, Bedford on 5 November 1904. Anthony died in Bedford, Bedfordshire on 18 March 1920.
It would seem that the name Usher & Anthony was maintained after the death of the two founding partners as a photograph, floor plan and brief description of a house at Biddenham, Bedford, executed to a design by Michael Dawn, by Usher & Anthony is featured in 'Decorative Art' 1931 (p.10).