Primitive artist, born at Robin Hill, north Staffordshire, son of a miner; he had a hard, poverty-stricken childhood. Left school at 12 and worked on farms and in pits. Eventually became manager at Newbury Collieries, Coleford, in 1923, but this job turned sour and he was employed elsewhere in mining until retirement in 1948. Then concentrated on his painting, showing with Society of Staffordshire Artists. Lived for much of his life in Etruria, Staffordshire, and bequeathed a collection of pictures and autobiographical writings to City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. It held a retrospective exhibition in 1993.