Born in Edenhope in Victoria to farmer Robert Hankinson and Alice Davies, he left school when he was thirteen to become a hotel yardsman.
On 16 October 1901 he married Beatrice Mary Klimpsoch, with whom he had two daughters.
He also acquired farming lands near Ardlethan, Narrandera and Eurolie.
In 1932 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the Country Party member for Murrumbidgee, serving until 1941.
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