Austin Frank Houldsworth was born in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England in 1883. From 1907, with William Boyer Blanchard (1886-1959), William Bailey Wheatley (1887-1961) he was the junior partner in the architectural firm Blanchard, Wheatley & Houldsworth in Hull. Houldsworth himself may not have trained as an architect but as a civil engineer as in the 1911 England and Wales Census his occupation is given as a civil engineer's assistant. The partnership was dissolved in 1924 and Wheatley and Holdsworth established their own practice, Wheatley & Houldsworth which was active in Hull until at least the 1950s.
Houldsworth's address was given as 100 Alliance Avenue, North Ferriby, Yorkshire in 1911 and 1933; Westholme, Marine Avenue, Hull in 1922; and Savile House, Savile Street, Hull in 1933. He died in Hull on 29 December 1933.