He was born in East Hoathly, Sussex and in 1860 started work at the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as an Improver,[2] then Assistant for India in the Herbarium, finally Keeper of Herbarium and Library. He wrote a number of botanical works.
Botany of the Bermudas and various other Islands of the Atlantic and Southern Oceans, 1885
Botany of Juan Fernandez, South-eastern Molluccas, and the Admiralty Islands, 1885
An Enumeration of All the Plants Known from China Proper, Formosa, Hainan, Corea, the Luchu Archipelago, and the Island of Hong Kong. with
Francis B. Forbes, 1887