William Allan Dew was born in Whittington, Derbyshire, England on 6 September 1874. He attended Hyde Technical School, and Stockport Technical School and was articled to Joseph Lindley (1807-1872) in Ashton-under-Lyne from 1889 to 1895. He then remained with him as his assistant until 1907 when commenced independent practice in Hyde, Cheshire. Between 1919 and 1926 he was in partnership with (?) Ingham in the architectural firm Dew & Ingham in Manchester.
Dew was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911. His address was given as 36 Oldham Street Hyde, Cheshire in 1881; Beechwood, 18 Parsonage Street, Hyde, Cheshire in 1911 and 1930; Market Chambers, Hyde, Cheshire in 1911 and 1939; 8 King Street, Manchester in 1923 and 1926; and Montgomery Chambers, Hardwick Street, Buxton, Derbyshire in 1935 and 1939. He died in Hyde on 1 September 1956.
Denton Liberal Club; Unitarian and Wesleyan Churches at Glossop; schools at Hyde: 4 factories at Hyde; bakeries at Hyde and Ashton; picture hall, Hyde, 1900; Hippodrome. Hyde, 1920; Child Welfare Centre, Hyde, 1923; houses at Alderley Edge, 1921; and Marple, etc., 1923; garages at Colwyn Bay, Margie, and Hyde, 1919; and various shops at Hyde and Manchester; 1923; banks at Glossop, 1925; “Bay Horse Hotel,” Newton, Hyde, 1928; Warehouse and Workroom Richmond Grove Rusholme, 1929; Billiard Hall and Shops; Borough Arcade Hyde, 1929; Greyhound Racing Track and Sports Stadium, Denton, 1933; Shopping Centre, St George’s Road, Hyde, 1936.
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