Alexander Munro was born the son of a stonemason in Inverness, Scotland on 25 October 1825. His talents as a sculptor were recognised at an early age by his father's employer, the Duchess Sutherland, who provided financial assistance for his education. From 1842 he trained in the studio in Edinburgh of he sculptor Alexander Handyside Ritchie (1804-1870). In 1848 he moved to London to study sculpture under Charles Barry (1795-1860). During this period, he was also employed as a stonemason on the new Palace of Westminster. In 1847 he entered the Royal Academy Schools in London. About this time he met and became closely associated with Thomas Woolner, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. From 1852 he shared a studio with Arthur Hughes, and from 1854 began teaching at the newly opened Working Men's College in London along with Thomas Woolner and other members of the PRB.
From an early age, he suffered from a lung disease and in the latter years of his life moved to Cannes in France for his health where he died on 1 January 1871.
