Hubert Austin

He attended Richmond Grammar School, and in 1860 was articled to his older brother, Thomas, an architect in Newcastle upon Tyne.

[6] In the Buildings of England series, Austin is described as a "local man of genius" with whom the firm "achieved greatness, distinguished for their thoughtfully creative designs with masterful handling of space, line and plane",[7] and who transformed the firm into a practice which decorated Lancashire ... with churches the equal of any in the country".

[8] In 1870 Austin married Fanny Langshaw, who was a niece of Edward Paley's former partner Edmund Sharpe, and they had five children.

Outside the practice, his main interests were music, painting and sketching; he was a member of the local orchestral and choral societies.

In religion, he was an Anglican, attending the town's parish church, Lancaster Priory, where he undertook the duties of vicar's warden for seven years and later being a sidesman.