William Harrison Cowlishaw [also known as W.H. Cowlishaw, and as W. Harrison Cowlishaw] was born in Godstone, Surrey, England on 4 December 1869 and was articled to Stockdale Harrison (1846-1914) in Leicester, and to Eustace James Anthony Balfour (1854-1911) and Hugh Thackeray Turner (1853-1937) of Balfour & Turner.
He commenced independent practice as an architect in c.1896. His best known work as an architect was The Cloisters in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, built in 1905-07.
Following World War One, he was commissioned by the War Graves Commission to to design memorials and cemeteries in France and Belgium.
In addition to his work as an architect, he was also an illuminator, decorative designer and ceramic artist. In 1907 he established the Iceni Pottery Company in Letworth Garden City which was active until 1914.
Cowlishaw was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1939. He was a member of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society and frequently exhibited with them between 1893 and 1916. He was also elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1917. He lived in Norton, Hertfordshire; Letchworth, Hertfordshire; and in London. He died in Deal [or Walmer - sources differ], Kent on 17 March 1957.
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
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 192, 22 March 1957 p. 560
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal July 1957 pp. 293-294