The boy was brought up by his uncle Richard Griffiths, of Neuadd Uchaf farm, Llanfair.

Noting his artistic leanings, Sir James had him trained at what is now the Royal College of Art.

Griffiths undertook many commissions, including work on the Victoria Terminus and the High Court.

After his decade in Bombay, Griffiths was appointed Principal of the Mayo School of Art and Curator of the Museum in Lahore, now in Pakistan.

[4] He retired in 1895, and moved to Manafon, Montgomeryshire and later to Norton, Sherborne, Dorset where he lived until his death on 1 December 1918.