Harold Fletcher Trew was born in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England in July 1888 and was articled to his father, John Fletcher Trew (1856-1917). He also attended Cheltenham School of Art and Gloucester School of Art. He worked as an assistant to Frederick William Waller (1846-1933) and Noel Huxley Waller (1881-1961) of Waller & Son in Gloucester.
Trew commenced independent practice as an architect in Gloucester from 1912. He was in partnership with his father from 1912 and with Harold Stratton Davis (1885-1969) from 1914. Trew was a Quaker and with Davis remodelled the Quaker Meeting House in Sidcot, Somerset in 1926
He was architect to the West Dean and Cirencester Rural District Council. He was also architect to the Department of Reconstruction for Eastern Macedonia from 1919 to 1921. He had previously designed plans for garden villages in France in Serrnaize-les-Bains, Paraguay, and Marne.
Trew was a Member of the Society of Architects (MSA) and an Associate Member of the Town Planning Institute (AMTPI). He was admitted a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects LRIBA) in 1925 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1930. He was President of the Gloucestershire Architectural Association.
In addition to his work as an architect, Trew was also a painter. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1929, 1934, 1936 and 1949. He also exhibited at Cooling Galleries and New English Art Club in London; the Paris Salon; and with the Cheltenham Group. A painting by him in the permanent collection of Gloucester City Art Gallery
He died in Churcham, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, on 20 June 1968
Deacon Street Council Schools, Gloucester; various domestic work; reconstruction work in France, in conjunction with the Ministère des Régions Liberées: Garden villages at Sermaize-les-Bains, and Parguy, Marne, etc. Town and village plans in Macedonia; Kilkis, Doiran, Lakkovikia, etc. [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
Who's Who in Architecture 1923. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: Architectural Press, 1923