Born Newcastle-on-Tyne, son of a book and stationery wholesaler. Studied at Edinburgh School of Art. He was deaf from childhood; work on munitions during World War I caused a serious breakdown in his health: he began to lose his sight in 1925 and was blind by 1933. Watercolourist, commercial engraver, lithographer, designer of bookjackets and lettering, illuminator. His lettering and calligraphy could be confident and effective, but his figure drawings were generally hesitant. His best work was in pen and ink (e.g. 'The Book of Job', 1902). John Russell Taylor described him as 'an uneven artist with mystical aspirations and an unreliable colour sense'