After a first apprenticeship by his father John, he further developed his skills with Thomas Powell, to whom he was apprenticed June 17, 1795.
[1] He started to work for the renowned William Forster (III) in 1802, and as soon as 1804 he became independent and established his workshop 16 Princes Street.
William Forster (IV) also made instruments for him starting in 1810, as did John Crowther later.
He produced an estimated 50 high quality double-basses and a few chamber-basses too, based on a smaller model.
[5] Most of his work is signed in pencil on the inner surface of the table, and occasionally in ink above the endpin on the lower ribs.