His mother was the daughter of Alexander Fraser of Caernarfon, from a long line of Scottish Highland drapers.
His studies of Sciences at Bangor University where interrupted by the First World War during which (due to age) he served only in the final year, as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
With these new gained qualifications he joined the staff of Burden Mental Research Department at Stoke Park Colony in Bristol.
He then won a place at the University of Edinburgh as a postgraduate first gaining a doctorate (DSc) in 1933 then studying medicine and graduated with a MB ChB in 1936.
After the war he returned to the Stoke Park Colony as Director of the Burden Mental Research Department, staying there until 1957.