He studied at the South African College (now University of Cape Town), where he graduated with his B.Sc.
His collection of arachnids formed the basis for the research upon which he received his Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town in 1928.
He was appointed director of the Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg in 1935, a position he gave up in 1948 in order to spend more time on research.
He collected in forests from the southern Cape to the Limpopo River, and from the coast of the Indian Ocean in the east, to Drakensberg in the west.
He also collected in Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, South-West Africa, and Zimbabwe (then southern Rhodesia).