He was sent away to preparatory school in Brighton at a young age, and began to develop an interest in art through painting portraits as a teenager.
Upon his return to London, he began to train in his father's profession and found employment as a drawing clerk in the office of John Crake.
[7] For most of his adult life, Hemsley resided in London, including at 5 Marlborough Street, and at addresses in Chelsea and South Kensington.
[9] He died on 24 December 1906, aged 89, at the home of his youngest son in south London, Walter Howard Hemsley (d. 1912).
[14] Today, Hemsley's paintings can be found at the Wellcome Library in London, and as part of public collections in Bath, Birkenhead, Hull, Leeds, Southport, and Wolverhampton.