He then went to the assist Eden Nesfield who was at the time working in partnership with Richard Norman Shaw.
He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1873, and won the RIBA Pugin Prize in 1876.
Shaw commended May as Estate Architect at Bedford Park, London in 1880[1] and May held that post until 1885.
He was architect to the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society and to the Governesses' Benevolent Institution.
May was an exhilarating tonic, the serious and yet lighthearted activity of thought and action, the quick movement to keep an appointment or to see you on your homeward way was characteristic.