Frederick William Marks was born in London, England* in 1858. By the early 1870s he had moved to Australia and from 1874 to 1879 was articled to John Frederick Hiely in Sydney, New South Wales. In 1880 he passed the Civil Service exam and from 1880 to 1883 worked as an architectural draughtsman in the Department of Engineer-on-Chief of Railways (Australia). In 1883 he returned to London and worked as an assistant in the office of Lewis Henry Isaacs (1829?-1908) and Henry Louis Florence (1834-1914) of Isaacs & Florence. He also attended the Royal Academy Schools in London in 1885. He qualified as an architect in 1887 and commenced independent practice in Sydney in 1889. In 1891 he returned to London where he remained for the rest of his career as an architect. In the early 1920s he was in partnership with Rupert John Gordon O’Donoghue (1894-1957) as Marks & O'Donoghue. They designed an office building for the Licenses & General Insurance Company Ltd. in Moorgate Street, London.
Marks was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1887 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1905. His address was given as 21 Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, London in 1887; 31 Great James Street, Bedford Row, London in 1894; 26 West Cromwell Road, London in 1905 and 1911; 3 Staple Inn, London in 1905 and 1920. He died at 14 Henrietta Street, London on 2 April 1922.
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* Note: it is sometimes incorrectly stated that Marks was born Australia, however, the England and Wales Census records from 1861 to 1911 show that he was born in London.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001