Leading PM layman in Shropshire for over half a century. Born of Methodist parents at Knockin, south of Oswestry, from 1902 the whole of his married life was spent at Maesbrook Green, where he farmed The Wood Farm. His lifelong association with Maesbrook PM chapel began at the age of 15. He became Sunday School Superintendent and in 1891 succeeded his uncle Samuel Ward as senior Circuit Steward in the Llanymynech Circuit (formed from Oswestry Circuit in 1885). In 1946 he could boast that he had not missed a Circuit Quarterly Meeting since 1882. He became a local preacher in the 1880s and was in wide demand in the county and beyond and among other denominations. He took part in the PM Centenary celebrations on Mow Cop in 1907 and in the celebration of 100 years of camp meetings during the TunstallConference in 1910.
For the whole of the Shrewsbury District's existence (1894-1932) he served as its treasurer and from 1910 chaired the committee meetings. He attended his first PM Conference at Reading in 1885, was nominated as Vice-President in 1922 and again in 1923 and 1924, but declined to serve. In the Commission on Village Methodism in the 1920s he was Commissioner for the West Region, covering 21 circuits on the Welsh border. From 1919 he served on the Methodist Union Committee and was present at the first united Conference in 1932.In public affairs he was chairman of the Kinnerley parish council from 1898, County Councillor from 1904 (serving as chairman 1931-1943) and a county magistrate on the Oswestry Bench from 1907. He represented the county on the Welshpool County School Authority and was involved in the re-opening of the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway in 1911. In local politics he was an active member of the Oswestry Liberal Association.