Born in England, he began his working life as a draughtsman with the Thames Iron Works.  He set sail for Australia in 1848 at the time of the 1848 gold rush.
By 1854 he had established himself as a specialist marine painter in Melbourne.  His style has a tendency to the naive which gives his work a considerable charm.  It would seem he was reasonably successful as a good number of his works survive in both private and public collections.  The Peabody Museum of Salem holds three examples of his work.