William Howard Seth-Smith [also known as William Howard Seth-Smith, III] was born in Tulse Hill, Surrey [now London], England on 23 August 1852 and was articled to William Gilbee Habershon (1818?-1891) and Alfred Robert Pite (1832-1911) of Habershon & Pite in London from 1876 to 1879. He also attended South Kensington Schools of Art in London. He commenced practice as an architect in London in 1879. in c.1884-85 he worked as an assistant to Ernest Barnsley. From 1889 he was in partnership with Arthur Richard George Fenning (1855-1937), and, from 1905 until shortly before his death, with William Ernest Monro (1868-1945).
Architectural work by Seth-Smith included Kingham Hill School in Kingham, Oxfordshire (1886); Marling School, Stroud, Gloucestershire (1889-94); Church of St Luke, Maidstone, Kent (1896-97)
Seth-Smith was elected a Member of the Society of Architects (MSA) in 1884 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1892. He was President of the Society of Architects from 1888 to 1891, and President of the Architectural Association from 1900 to 1902.
In addition to his work as an architect, Seth-Smith was a watercolour painter. From 1885 to 1904 he exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. He died at Windswept, Reigate, Surrey on 30 August 1928.
In conjunction with W. Ernest Monro (partner), since 1905: — the Marling Schools, Stroud, about 1880; Homes for Destitute Boys in Oxfordshire, with schools, workshops, gymnasium and chapel, about 1887 to 1914; St. Luke's Church, Maidstone; the Grafton Hotel. Tottenham Court Road; Church Missionary Society, 1915, extension and alteration of premises in Salisbury Square; alteration and extension of Hare Hall, Romford; restoration of Manor House, Stoke Poses: extension of Nast Hyde Manor House, Hatfield: houses at Elstead, Owermoigne (Dorsetshire), and Broadstalrs: Waxwell Farm. Pinner; Hyde House, Bulstrode Street; Ada Lewis House, Chelsea; rebuilding of Manor House, Kingham; lodges to Daylesford Park, Oxfordshire; the Town Hall, Lydney; development of the Chase Estate, Epsom, and Eaton Park Estate, Cobham, Surrey. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1923]
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
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
‘Obituary’. The Builder 7 September 1928 p. 394
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 36, 1929 p. 122