He started work at age 15 and had carried out many large parish surveys by age 19. He then made drawings and designs for bridges on the
Eastern Counties Railway under
George Landmann and
John Braithwaite. From about 1845, he worked on the construction of the
East Lincolnshire Railway and, from 1849, on the construction of the
Great Northern Railway between London and
Peterborough. His designs included an aqueduct over the
Regent's Canal and the viaduct at Peterborough. In 1853, he made drawings for an
underground railway from
King's Cross, London to the
Mansion House but the scheme did not come to fruition. From 1862 to 1863 he supervised the construction of the
Bristol Port Railway. After this, he supervised the construction of the
East London Railway through the
Thames Tunnel. In 1872 he was appointed Southern Division Architect at the
York office of the
North Eastern Railway, where he remained until his death. ==Family life==