After attending Scotch College he became a grazier, working on the family property at Harden from 1903.
He served with the 1st Light Horse Brigade from 1915 to 1919 in Palestine and Mesopotamia, attaining the rank of lieutenant.
In 1922 he married Elizabeth Gibson; he would later marry Grace Shuttle.
He served on the council of the Graziers' Association (1931–40) and was president of the Harden branch, and he was briefly a member of the Farmers and Settlers Association in 1936.
In 1932 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Country Party member for Cootamundra, serving until his defeat in 1941.