Pyne studied under Henry Pars at Shipley's School in the Strand and first exhibited at the Royal Aademy in 1790. He was an active founder member of the O.W.S. but retired in 1809 to concentrate on his writing. His essays in the Literary Gazette, under the name Ephraim Hardcastle, were re-published in 1823 as Wine and Walnuts. After various failed publishing ventures Pyne spent much of his last eight years as an inmate of the King's Bench Debtors' Prision