At an early age he displayed a decided predilection and talent for drawing.
George Doo, the engraver, having been struck by Duffield's highly elaborated pen-and-ink sketches and faithful copies of his engravings, offered to take him as his pupil without a premium.
A few years later he placed himself under George Lance, and was noted for his unremitting attention and assiduity as a student of the Royal Academy.
[1] After completing the usual course of study in London, he returned to Bath, and later on proceeded to Antwerp, where, under Egide Charles Gustave Wappers, he worked for two years.
[1] In 1850, he married Mary Elizabeth Rosenberg (1819–1914), eldest daughter of Mr. T. E. Rosenberg of Bath, and a painter of fruit and flowers; she was a member of the Institute of Painters in Water-Colours.