He was English and a burgess of the town, but he was married to a cousin of Sir Robert Keith, Great Marischal of Scotland.

The raiding party, led by Sir James Douglas, and possibly the Earl of Dunbar, took the town after a fight.

King Robert soon arrived with an army, and after an eleven-week siege, the castle garrison capitulated due to a lack of supplies.

[2] The English burgesses were expelled, and King Robert re-established Berwick as a Scottish trading port, installing his son-in-law Walter Stewart as Keeper.

Historian Michael Brown notes that "symbolically, the capture of town and then castle marked the completion of King Robert's realm and kingship.