Edwin Seward was born in Yeovil, Somerset, England in 1853 and was articled to Charles Benson in Yeovil from 1867 to 1870. He then worked as an assistant to George Edward Robinson in Cardiff, Wales from 1870 to 1874. During these years he also attended the Cardiff Science and Art Schools. He commenced independent practice in Cardiff in 1875 and from 1875 was in partnership with Walter Parry James (?-1883) and George Thomas (1848?-1910) in the architectural firm James, Seward & Thomas. Following the death of James in 1883, the practice continued as Seward & Thomas until 1893 when the partnership was dissolved.
In the late nineteenth century Seward and his firm had a profound impact on the architecture of Cardiff, designing many of the prominent buildings in the city. `These work included Cardiff Union Workhouse (1880-81); Free Library, Cardiff (1880-82); St. David's Hospital, Cardiff (1881); the Royal Infirmary, Cardiff (1883); Cardiff Coal & Shipping Exchange (1884-88); and the Turner House Gallery in Penarth, near Cardiff (1887-88); Morgan Arcade, Cardiff (1896-98); central part of the David Morgan Department Store, Cardiff (1899; Llanishen Methodist Church, Melbourne Road, Carfiff (1900-01); and Swansea Harbour Trust Building (1902-03)
Seward was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1876 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1889. He was also a member of the member of Royal Cambrian Academy. He retired from practice in 1913 and moved to Weymouth in Dorset where he died on 21 June 1924.
Glamorgan and Monmouthshire Infirmary, Cardiff; former Municipal Buildings, Cardiff: Cardiff Workhouses and Hospitals; Ely Workhouse and Homes: Cardiff Public Library. Art Gallery and Museum; the Wye Bridge, Monmouth; Cardiff Coal and Shipping Exchange: Harbour Trust Offices and Council Chamber, Swansea,; numerous schools; and many houses, shops, arcades, banks, and halls in the neighbourhood of Cardiff and Swansea. [Source: Who's 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'. The Builder vol. 127, 4 July 1924 p. 4
'Obituary'. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal. Vol. 31, 1924 p. 626
Who's Who in Architecture 1923. Edited by Frederick Chatteron. London: The Architectural Press, 1923