William Richard Gleave was born in Farnworth, near Manchester, Lancashire, England in July 1868. After serving an apprenticeship in the building trade from 1884, he articled to Hartley Hacking in Manchester in 1888. He then worked as a draughtsman to Edward Salomons (1828-1906). He was assistant to a Mr. White in London for two years.
In 1893 he qualified as an architect and later that year was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA). In 1896 he moved to Dublin to work in the office of William Hague Jr. (1836-1899). During the brief period he lived in Dublin, Gleave paid an important role in the revival of the Architectural Association of Ireland (AAI).
By 1901 he had returned to England and in 1903, with Arthur Richard Calvert, (1852-1922) formed the partnership, A.R. Calvert & W.R. Gleave. in Nottingham. Gleave remained in Nottingham for the rest of his career. The partnership with Calvert was dissolved in 1911, and in 1913 he formed a new partnership, Calvert, Jessop and Gleave, with Bernard Jessop and Charles Henry Calvert, the son of Arthur Richard Calvert.
Gleave died in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, on 8 January 1933.
Architectural work by Gleave included 3 Arkwright Street, Nottingham (1902-03); alterations to Nottingham Savings Bank, 11 Low Pavement, Nottingham (1903) with A. R. Calvert; Shops and houses, Victoria Embankment, Nottingham (1904) with A. R. Calvert; Thorncliff, St Andrew’s Road, Nottingham (1904) with A. R. Calvert; 3 Thorncliffe Rise, Nottingham (1905) with A. R. Calvert; enlargement of Lady Bay Church, Nottingham (1906); 30 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham (1906-07) with A. R. Calvert; The Canon Lewis Memorial Hall, Ransom Road, Nottingham (1907) with A. R. Calvert; Enfield Chambers, 14-16 Low Pavement, Nottingham (1909-10) with A. R. Calvert; houses in Stockhill Lane, Basford, Nottingham (1919-21); War Memorial, Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe, lincolnshire (1920); War Memorial, Mapperley, Nottingham (1922); and 54-56 Milton Street, Nottingham (1927).
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
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 40, 1933 p. 417