Edward Henry Bruton was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England on 23 July 1854. He was the son of the architect Edward George Bruton (1826-1899) with whom he was articled from 1870 to 1874. After completing his articles he worked as an assistant to Walter Hanstock (1842?-1900) in Batley, Yorkshire from 1874 to 1876 and to Peter Price in Cardiff, Wales from 1876 to 1881. He subsequently remained in Cardiff where in 1881 he commenced independent practice.
Bruton was in partnership with Edward Jenkin Williams (1864-1910) in Cardiff [dates not known]. He was also in partnership with (?) Foster as Bruton and Foster in Cardiff in 1908. Bruton & Foster submitted an entry in a competition to design the Middle School for Boys and Girls in Tiverton, Devon. Their designs are illustrated in British Competitions in Architecture vol. 2, no. 20, February 1909 (pp. 258-259).
Bruton was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1881 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1890.
His address was given as Gwenfil House, Richmond Crescent, Cardiff, Wales in 1881; Glamorgan Chambers, 15 Queen Street, Cardiff, Wales in 1890; 119 Queen Street, Cardiff, Wales [office of Bruton & Foster] in 1908; 3 Charleville Mansions, West Kensington, London in 1923; and St. David's, Canford Cliffs, Bournemouth, Hampshire [now Dorset] in 1926. In the 1911 England and Wales Census Bruton gave his occupation as Retired Architect. He died in Bournemouth on 7 June 1926.
Large block of offices in Bute Street, Cardiff, for Messrs. Cory Brothers and Co.; Unitarian Church, West Grove, Cardiff; United Methodist Chapel, Penarth Road, Cardiff; churches in the Garw Valley at Blaengarw, Pontycymmer, Pontyrhil, and others In Glamorgan; Wilts and Dorset Bank, Newport Road, Cardiff; at Senghenydd: Gwern-y-milwr Hotel, Baptist chapel, Wesleyan chapel, Methodist chapel; restoration of Hensol Castle for Sir Rose and Lady Price Fothergill; private residence "Redbrook " at Caerphilly. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1926]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Who's Who in Architecture 1926. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architecttural Press, 1926