He lived in Scotland, where he was a member of the Glasgow Chess Club, and later moved to Bradford, Yorkshire, where he began his journalistic career as the chess editor of the Observer-Budget. He wrote chess articles for the metropolitan and provincial English papers, organized the Yorkshire County Chess Club, arranged the Joseph Henry Blackburne-Isidor Gunsberg match at Bradford (1887) and the International Chess Masters' Tournament in 1888 at the same city.
As a Scottish resident, he was affiliated with the Glasgow Chess Club before moving to Bradford, Yorkshire, where he began his career as chess editor for the Observer-Budget. He wrote articles on chess for English newspapers, founded the Yorkshire County Chess Club, and organized notable matches in 1887 and 1888.