	He was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1824. He was the first president of the Wellington Association of Architects, and a member of the Wellington City Council in 1891. He designed the Old Bank Arcade, St John's Church in Willis Street, and St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Masterton. His 3-storey design for the General Assembly Library was not completed because of rising costs, and it was finished with only two floors by John Campbell in 1899.