Daniel Porter Fordham was born in Ongar, Essex, England 1845 [or 1846] and commenced practice as an architect in c.1872. In 1884 he formed a partnership with John Douglas (1830-1911) in the Chester, Cheshire, England architectural firm Douglas & Fordham.
Architectural projects by Douglas & Fordham included Abbeystead House in Abbeystead, Lancashire (1885-87); Church of St James the Great in Haydock, Cheshire (c.1891-92); St Wenefrede's Church in Bickley, Cheshire (1892); All Saints Church in Higher Kinnerton, Flintshire (1893); Brocksford Hall in Doveridge, Derbyshire (1893); 38 Bridge Street in Chester, Cheshire (1897); Congregational Church in Great Crosby, Lancashire (1897–98)
The partnership was dissolved in 1898 when Fordham was forced to retire from the practice through ill health. He moved to Bournemouth in Dorset where he died in April 1899