Samuel Needham was born in Leicester, Leicestershire, England in 1868 and was articled to Richard Charles Sutton (1833?-1915) in Nottingham from 1885 to 1888. From 1890 to 1895 he was architect to Lord Burton in Rangmore. East Staffordshire. By 1895 he had moved to York, Yorkshire and from 1895 to 1903 was architect to the Tadcaster Brewery Co. in York.
Needham commenced independent practice in York in 1904. He was also appointed Valuer to the Corporation of the City of York; and Consulting Surveyor to Flaxton Rural District Council and Bishopsthorpe Rural District. Council, In 1911 he was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA).
In c.1921 he formed a partnership with his son, Charles William Cashmore Needham (1893-1962) as S. Needham & Son at 29, High Ousegate, York. He died at Burleigh, Knap Lane, Acomb, Yorkshire on 21 September 1927. Following his death his son continued to run the practice, retaining the original name of the business until at least the late 1930s.
Many new houses, business premises, shops, warehouses, licensed houses, alterations and extensions, etc. in York and District. [Source: Whose Who in Architecture 1923]
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
‘Obituary’. Journal of the Royal institute of British architects vol. 35, 1927-28 p. 60