 He was educated at Merewether public school, but left at eleven to do odd jobs in the Glebe colliery near Merewether and then worked as a coal miner.in 1902 he married Harriet Churchill and they went on to have two sons and three daughters.He moved to Cessnock in 1908 to work at Neath Colliery and later at Aberdare Extended Colliery.