William Henry Corifield was born at Yeovil, Somerset, England in 1843, the son of James and Ann Corfield.

[3] Deciding there was more money to be made servicing the goldfields than mining them, Corfield established a carrying business in about 1868.

[3] In 1878, he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Robert Fitzmaurice, to set up businesses in the new town of Winton in Western Queensland.

When Fitzmaurice lost his sight in 1884 Corfield bought out his shares in the businesses, and then sold the hotel but retained the store in partnership with W.M.

At a time when party politics were still fairly fluid in Queensland, he strongly advocated for the interests of his own electorate even when it conflicted with the conservative parliamentary bloc's policies.