James Osborne Smith [also known as James Osborne-Smith] was born in Thetford, Norfolk, England in November 1847 and was articled to John Brown (1805-1876) in Norwich, Norfolk from 1865 to 1868. He also attended classes at the Architectural Association and the South Kensington Schools in London. From 1868 to 1873 he was managing assistant and clerk of works to James Kellaway Colling (1816-1905) in London. He then worked as an assistant to James Medland (1808-1894) and John Medland (1840?-1913) of Medland & Son in Gloucester from 1873 to 1877; to John Thomas Christopher (1829?-1910); and to William Eden Nesfield (1835-1888) from 1878 to 1881.
He commenced independent practice as an architect in London in 1881 and was architect to Harrow School. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1881 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1891.
His address was given as 65 Fithville Gardens, Uxbridge Road, London in 1881; 34 Southampton Street, Strand, London in 1891; 7 Old Queen Street, Westminster, London in 1900 and 1914; Elm House, 37 Earls Street, Thetford, Norfolk in 1911; 37 Beddington Gardens in 1914 and 1928; and 197, Victoria Street, Westminster, London in 1923 and 1926. He died in Surrey on 29 January 1928
Central Offices, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich; Bodleian Library, Oxford (fitting up part); London Library (rebuilding); high schools at Notting Hill, Sheffield, Clapham, Sutton, Portsmouth, Wimbledon, Streatham Hill, and Ipswich; grammar schools at Mansfield, Skipton, Thetford, &c.; training colleges at isle worth, Saffron Walden, and Stockwell; alterations and additions, Lotherton Hall, Yorkshire; sanitary works at Sion House, Brentford; Gumley Hall and Rectory, Market Harborough; Albury Park, Guildford; North Eastern County School, Barnard Castle; and many other schools
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