Frederick Pepys Cockerell was born in London, England on 6 March 1833. He was the son of the architect Charles Robert Cockerell (1788-1863) from whom he may have received some his training as an architect. He also studied at King's College, London in 1848 and in Paris in 1853. While in Paris he met the eminent French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879). Following his return to London he was a pupil of Philip Hardwick (1792-1870) in 1854-1855. After leaving Hardwick he went on a study tour of Italy. On his return in 1856 he worked with his father on the decoration of St George's Hall in Liverpool. He subsequently left his father's office and in the late 1850s set up his own practice in London. His commissions included Freemasons' Hall , London (1863-64); Highgate School, Highgate, London (1865-67); Lythe Hill, Haslemere, Surrey (1868); Carlisle Memorial Column at Castle Howard, near York, Yorkshire (1870); Blessingbourne, Fivemiletown, co.