Charles Edwin Ware [also known as Charles E. Ware] was born in Exeter, Devon, England on 17 September 1837 and was the son of John Ware, a builder, with whom he served an apprenticeship. He subsequently worked as a surveyor and civil engineer. In 1871 he established an architectural practice in Exeter which became Charles E. Ware & Son when his son, Edgar Felix Ware (1872-1945), joined the practice in the 1890s or early 1900s.
Charles Edwin Ware was elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers (AICE) in 1873 and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (MICE) in 1880. He was also a Fellow of the Surveyor's Institution (FSI). From 1867 to 1874 he was City Surveyor for Exeter.
His address was given as "Sunneyside", Elm Green Road, Exeter, Devon in 1871; Iddesleigh, Heavitree Road, Exeter in 1881 and 1891; and 4 Baring Place, Heavitree Road, Exeter in 1911. He died in Devon on 3 October 1911. Following his death, Edgar Felix Ware continued to run the practice with the title of the firm unchanged.
Rougemont Hotel, Queen Street, Exeter (1877).
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’. Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers vol. 187, part 1, 1912 p. 332