He was born at Ellalong near Maitland, the son of Thomas Walsh and Ellen Brines.
He received a primary education and was a compositor on the Maitland Mercury before moving to Tamworth around 1881.
There he worked as a tailor, and around 1884 married Mary Elizabeth Buosell, with whom he had three children.
In 1901 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Tamworth; he ran as an independent, but always supported Premier John See and was soon considered a Progressive.
In 1903 he was declared bankrupt and thus was no longer eligible to sit in parliament; he contested the by-election as an endorsed Progressive but was defeated by the Liberal candidate.