[3] He trained as a surveyor, but became interested in development and town planning issues, and established a practice with Ernest G. Allen.
Also in 1914, as a member of the Local Government Board, he was placed in charge of the Greater London Arterial Road Conferences.
In 1919, he was appointed Chief Town Planning Inspector to the Ministry of Health, a post which he held until 1941.
[3] He became President of the TPI in 1919–20, and uniquely served for a second term in 1949–50, as well as acting as the organisation's Secretary and Treasurer at different times.
He was also active in the National Playing Fields Association, and in the Council for the Preservation of Rural England.