 He was educated at St. Peter's School, York.He began his working life in 1945 as an articled clerk and subsequently a Chartered Accountant at Barron & Barron in York.After two years' service in the army, from 4 July 1946 to 26 August 1948, he returned to Barron & Barron, where he worked on a number of major business activities for large estates in Yorkshire and London until 1963.