A soldier with the 9th Royal Veteran Battalion, he married a Kirkwall girl in 1813. In 1820, he opened an ale-house which was called the Toddy Hole by arrangement with John Miller of Millquoy.
A soldier serving in the 9th Royal Veteran Battalion wed a Kirkwall resident in 1813. He subsequently established an alehouse named the Toddy Hole in partnership with John Miller of Millquoy in 1820.