Charles Melville Seth-Ward [also known as Melville Seth Ward] was born in Farnborough, Warwickshire, England on 21 December 1868. After working in a builder's office from 1889 to 1891, he was articled to Francis Inigo Thomas (1866-1950) in 1891-92 and and then to Ernest Newton (1856-1922) in 1892-93.
He commenced practice as an independent architect in London, England in 1893. From 1898 to c.1925 he was in partnership with William Henry Harrison (c.1854-1925) as Harrison & Seth-Ward [also known as W.H. Harrison & M.S. Ward]. Between 1933-35 he was also in partnership with Montague Wheeler (1874-1937).
Seth-Ward was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1903. He died in Buckingham, Buckinghamshire on 16 September 1946.
Restorations and additions to Rushbrooke Hall, Suffolk, 1908-10; and to Cadbury Court, Somerset, 1914-16; rebuilding Gorgate Hall, Norfolk, 1900-8. Heatherden Hall, Bucks, 1914-20; Hallings House, Bucks, 1912; Wilton Place, Bucks; and several private houses all over England. Denham Golf Club, Bucks; brewery works, etc., for Messrs. Fuller, Smith and Turner, and the Camden Brewery Company, Limited. Shop and flat property in London; warehouse and factory buildings, etc.; schools and picture theatres in London, Bradford, York, Leeds, etc.; works on behalf of the Public Trustee and General Post Office. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1926]
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’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 54, November 1946 p. 55
Who's Who in Architecture 1926. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architectural Press, 1926