Robert Douglas Wells was born St. Marylebone, Middlesex [now London], England in July 1875. After studying architecture at Trinity College, Cambridge from 1893 to 1896, he was articled to John James Stevenson (1831-1908) and Harry Redfern (1861-1950) of Stevenson & Redfern in London, England from 1896 to 1899. He remained with them as an improver for another year. He then worked as an assistant to Ralph Selden Wornum (1847-1910) in London in 1900-01. He also studied painting at the London School of Art and in 1901 was awarded a scholarship to the British School in Athens.
Wells qualified as an architect in 1900 and the following year was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA). He subsequently pursued a dual career as a professional architect, which he practised from 1900, and as exhibiting artist.
He showed also at the Royal Society of British Artists, Baillie Gallery, Goupil Gallery, International Society of Sculptors, Painters & Gravers, New English Art Club, Royal Academy and at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in London; and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of British Artists (ARBA) in 1926, and a full member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) in 1929. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1911.
Wells was married to the painter Madeline Rachel Wells (1874-1959).
His address was given as 26 Bedford Square, London and 13 Porchester Terrace, London in 1901; 171 Queen's Gate, London in 1911; 3 Bedford Row in 1911 and 1914; 18a, St. Alban's Road, London in 1926 and 1935; and 30 Palace Gardens Terrace, London in 1939. He died at 30, Palace Gardens Terrace, Kensington, London on 28 April 1963.
St. Mary's Hall, Putney; St. Alban's Studios, Kensington; houses at Fleet (Hants), Gerrard's Cross, Chesham Bois (Bucks); also at Grand Foils, Newfoundland, for the late Lord Northcliffe. [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
Who's Who in Architecture 1926. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architectural Press, 1926