He was born in Jamaica and educated at Calabar High School and Caenwood Theological College. After serving in the Civil Service 1922-1927, he was ordained in 1932. He was stationed in the Turks and Caicos Islands 1932-1937 and in Jamaica 1937-1940. From 1940 to 1956 he ran the Boys' Town in Western Kingston, which he had founded. He was Chairman of the Jamaica District from 1956 to 1966 and President of the newly autonomous Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas from 1966 to 1971. He was a Vice-President of the Executive of the World Methodist Council 1960-1976 and on his retirement became the Geneva Secretary of the World Methodist Council, 1971-1976. He was awarded an OBE in 1954, the Freedom of Kingston in 1955 and the Order of Kingston in 1979, and received honorary doctorates in 1972 and 1977. When Jamaica gained its independence in 1962 he wrote the words that became its national anthem, 'Jamaica, land we love'. He also wrote a much-used hymn, 'Lord, thy Church on earth is seeking' (HP 774; SF 410). He died in Kingston on 19 April 1998.