The artist, a painter of marine subjects, studied at Liverpool School of Art between 1924 and 1930, and received a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London. He won a further travelling scholarship to Rome, where he spent several months studying art.

From 1936-39 he rented a studio in St Ives though his sending in address remained at Liverpool, and he was particularly attracted by Cornish harbour subjects. In 1938 he became a member of STISA. During WWII he was based in Liverpool, working in the Air Ministry.

In 1945 he started teaching part-time at the Liverpool School of Art, and first became involved in restoration work for the Walker Art Gallery, an area in which he was to excel. His paintings were very well received by the time he visited Polperro in 1948, producing a number of works in the village. In 1949 he resigned from STISA and joined the Penwith Society, where his Polperro works were highly praised. 

He was closely associated with the RCA, becoming its treasurer. A number of his exhibits during the 1950s were acquired for public collections, but he gave up painting in the late 1960s as he was in such demand as a restorer for the Walker, Lady Lever and Derby Art Galleries.