His father was killed in World War I during the Battle of the Somme, and after his mother remarried, the family moved to East Africa when he was eight years old.
[1] In 1929 he returned to Kenya and began working at a timber yard, before becoming manager of a Royal Dutch Shell depot in Nakuru.
When World War II began he was appointed secretary to the Kenya Defence Forces tribunal, also holding the position of assistant to the Director of Manpower.
His move into politics started after he became the unofficial election agent for Olga Watkins, the Member of the Legislative Council for Kiambu.
He was appointed Minister of Local Government in 1954,[3] and was narrowly re-elected in 1956 when he beat his opponent Richard Thompson by 23 votes.