He was born at Acton Hill, Middlesex, the son of William Adams, a tailor, and Helen Elizabeth Humphreys.
He subsequently worked in the studio of Matthew Noble, and during 1853–1858 he studied at the Royal Academy Schools, where his promise was liberally recognised.
There his success in portraiture, to which he devoted his main efforts, excited the admiration of John Gibson, who sent many visitors to his studio.
He also executed a colossal statue of Sir Titus Salt, erected near Bradford Town Hall in 1874, and statues of Queen Victoria for Kingston and the Bahamas, of William Ewart Gladstone, a close friend and the godfather of his fourth son, for Blackburn and Liverpool, and of Bishop Samuel Waldegrave for Carlisle Cathedral.
Edward VII, as Prince of Wales, sat to him many times, and the Emperor and Empress of Germany showed interest in his art.