He was born on 17 February 1884 at Maiden Newton in Dorset, the son of John Read (1814-1889) a farmer, and his wife, Bessie Gatcombe (1854-1904).
Around 1900 he obtained a Diploma in Science from Finsbury Technical College and won a place at the University of London studying Chemistry, graduating in 1907.
[3] According to his application citation his work covered: " wide and important fields, including (a) Optical activity; (b) Formation of halogenohydrins from unsaturated compounds; (c) Investigation of Australian products, including eucalyptus oils, marine fibre, Papuan petroleum; (d) Terpene chemistry".
[4] He received the Dexter Award for Outstanding Achievement in the History of Chemistry from the American Chemical Society in 1959.
They had two sons, Arthur, a mathematician and mountaineer, and Jan, a movie writer, author and photographer.