Robert Curwen was born in Fleetwood Lancashire, England in 1850 and trained as an architect in Liverpool. He spent five years in the office of Christopher Obee Ellison (1832?-1904) and five years with Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878). He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1879.
Curwen's address was given as 23 South Castle Street, Liverpool, Lancashire in 1878; 7 Bedford Road, Aston, Middlesex in 1881; and 11, Bell's Buildings, 34, South John Street, Liverpool in 1881. He died on 3 October 1915. His death was registered in Willesden, Middlesex
Curwen designed a number of Wesleyan Methodist Church buildings in the late nineteenth century and early years of the twentieth century, including the English Wesleyan Chapel in Conway (1880); Punshon Memorial Church in Colwyn Bay (1882); the Wesleyan Chapel in Redfield (1883); the Weslyan Chapel and Sunday School in Williton (1884); Gospel Ash Wesleyan Chapel in Bobbington, Staffordshire (1884); the Wesleyan Chapel in Watford (1888); the Wesleyan Chapel in Chard (1895); and the Chapel and School in Lower Weston, Bath (1890). He also designed the Bristol Children's Hospital (1883); and the T.C. Hinksman Memorial School in Preston (1899).
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