Born in Melbourne, the son of Richard Banks, an Irish-born draper,[1] Williams worked in a racing stable and as a golf instructor before joining a small touring variety company in 1895.

Back in Melbourne he was heard by the entertainer Tom Woottwell, and met Harry Rickards who gave him a letter of introduction to contacts in England.

His version of "When Father Papered the Parlour", written by R. P. Weston and Fred J. Barnes, was issued by at least thirty different record labels.

He became ill in late 1914, and died at the age of 37 at Shoreham-by-Sea near Brighton in March 1915, the proximate cause being septic prostatitis and consequent complications after an operation for that condition, but rumoured ultimately to be connected with "previous social excesses," an Edwardian euphemism for syphilis.

They had four living children: Reginald, William, Margaret and Cathleen, who after his death, moved with Amy to Australia.