Edward H. Bennett was born in Cheltenham, England on May 12, 1874.  His family moved to San Francisco where he worked for Robert White.  In 1895 Bennett returned to Europe to study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts through the patronage of Phoebe Hearst.  After graduation Bennett worked in New York in the office of George Post.  Recommended by classmate Peirce Anderson, Daniel Burnham hired Bennett to assist with the Plan of West Point.  Bennett stayed with D. H. Burnham & Company preparing the Plan of San Francisco, and later, most notably the 1909 Plan of Chicago.  In 1910 Bennett began a long and successful private practice. He died in Tryon, North Carolina on October 19, 1954.