[2] He was born in Box, Wiltshire and was educated at City of Bath Boys School and the University of Bristol, graduating with a first class honours BSc in 1927.
[3] In 1929, he joined the Meteorological Office at Kew Observatory, where he carried out studies on the atmospheric electrical balance in good and bad weather.
In 1932 he was one of a six-man British expedition to Fort Rae in Northwest Canada, where he carried out observations of atmospheric electricity.
After the war, he returned to Imperial College, where he helped Professor David Brunt establish a teaching programme for the Diploma of Imperial College and the University of London Master of Science degree, eventually succeeding him as Professor in 1952.
In 1939 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society and served as a council member, editor of the Quarterly Journal, vice-president and President (1957–59).