He studied at Marlborough College in Wiltshire and learnt about vine-growing and winemaking on the European mainland.

[1] He migrated to South Australia in 1839 on the Buckinghamshire and immediately erected his prefabricated two-roomed Manning cottage on an Adelaide allotment.

He acquired a property on the South Para River and stocked it with sheep purchased from Van Diemen's Land.

He later moved his flock to a selection near Lyndoch, which he named "Pewsey Vale" and developed into an ideal country home.

[2] In 1847 he established Pewsey Vale winery in Eden Valley, the same year Jacob's Creek winery was established in the neighbouring Barossa Valley,[3] with substantial cellars, and Pewsey Vale clarets, burgundies and hocks achieved considerable success.