From Bishop Auckland, North-East England, he was a pump manufacturer and keen musical amateur: conductor of the Bishop Auckland Musical Society from 1875, the Middlesbrough Musical Union from 1882, and the Sunderland Philharmonic Society from 1886.
He was a Wagner devotee: published Wagner. A Sketch of his Life and Works (London, [1895]) and The Story of "Wagner's Ring" for English Readers (London, [1898]).
