Alfred Frederick William Hayward [also known as A.F.W. Hayward] was born in Port Hope, Northumberland, Ontario, Canada on 20 June 1856. He left Canada to train as an artist in Europe. By 1881 he was living in St. Pancras, London, England. He studied at the West London School of Art and at Royal Academy Schools in London. He subsequently remained in England where he worked primarily as a flower painter. Hayward was a prolific exhibitor. His work was shown at the Abbey Gallery, Beaux Arts Gallery, Baillie Gallery, Colnaghi & Co. Galleries, Fine Art Society, Grosvenor Gallery, New Gallery, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Society of Painters, Etchers and Engravers, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, and International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers in London; the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin; Royal Birmingham Society of Artists; Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Manchester City Art Gallery; and at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.