Joseph Watson Cabré was born on 19 July 1884. He studied at the School of Architecture, Liverpool University from 1899 to 1902 and was awarded a First-class certificate. He was then articled to William Edward Willink (1856-1924) and Philip Coldwell Thicknesse (1860-1920) of Willink & Thicknesse from 1902 to 1904, and worked as their assistant until 1918. He was awarded a Liverpool Architectural Society Travelling Scholarship In Architecture in 1906.
Cabré practised as an architect in Liverpool from c.1918. Much of his work was in the Liverpool area, including churches, mission halls, housing schemes and private housing. He was also responsible for the roof over the Kop at Anfield football stadium, opened on 25 August 1928. He lectured on Architecture and Building at Central Technical School, Liverpool, from 1907 and was Hon. Librarian of the Liverpool Architectural Society from 1907 to 1916.
He was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1931 and was a Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers (M.I.Struct.E.). He was the author of Planning and Design (London: English Universities Press, 1945). His address was given as "Sefton", Kimberley Drive, Gt. Crosby, Liverpool in 1923 and 1939. He died in Liverpool in 1946
Restoration and additions, St. Nicholas Church, Blundellsands, 1924-5; St. Luke's Hall. Gt. Crosby, 1922: St. Nicholas Mission Hall and Sanctuary, Blundellsands; housing schemes: Warbeck Park Estate, Liverpool, and Rosedale Avenue, Gt. Crosby, 1925; Drill Hall, New Ferry; Garden of Remembrance and Lamp of Memory War Memorial, Gt. Crosby, 1923-4; "Titanic" Memorial. St. James, Liverpool; alterations, Llv. Univ. Sch. of Archaeology, 1909; private houses in Gt. Crosby and Waterloo, Liverpool, Aysgarth, Yorkshire, Surrey
Who’s Who in Architecture 1926. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architectural Press, 1926