Charles James Chirney Pawley was born in London, England on 8 November 1854. He trained as an architect under his father, Charles Pawley, and was active as an independent architect in London from 1881 onwards.
In addition to his work as an architect, Pawley was also a watercolourist and between 1896 and 1903 exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. A painting of the proposed Empire War Memorial Shrine in Westminster Abbey, London, by him is illustrated in Colour vol.9, no.6, January 1919 p.153.
During World War One he served as a Major in the Third Middlesex Voluntary Artillery Corps.
His address was given as Upper Sydenham, London (1868); 26 Moorgate Street, London (1883); 2 Princes Mansions, Victoria Street, London (1905); and Almoner's House, St. James's Court, Westminster, London (1905). He died in Kensington, London on 7 February 1922.
Most of Pawley's commissions were in London. These included St. James Court, 41-53 Buckingham Gate, London. (1896-1905); Westminster Palace Gardens, Artillery Row, London (1897-99); Buckingham Palace Mansions, Westminster, London (1898); Moscow Mansions, Kensington, London (1898); Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London (1919).
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