Charles Joseph Morton Cowdell was born in Leicester, Leicestershire, England in 1887. His father was the architect William Morton Cowdell (1855-1925) with whom he was articled in Leicester from 1903 to 1907. During this period he also attended Leicester Municipal School of Art. He them worked as an assistant to William Arthur Heazell (1831-1917), Arthur Ernest Heazell (1863-1941), and Edward Henry Heazell (1867-1848) of Heazell & Sons in 1908-09 before returning as an assistant in his father's office in 1909.
He qualified as an architect in 1911 and was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1912. He subsequently practised as an architect in Leicester for the next two years. Following the outbreak of World War One he enlisted in the Army and served in the Royal Engineers as a Second Lieutenant. He was subsequently killed in action on 12 September 1917 at Ypres, Belgium
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