The sitter was a British soldier who served in the British East India Military Service. He married Mary Virginie Mottet de la Fontaine in India and they had two children. On his return to England he became an agent of the Exeter branch of the Bank of England and he joined Cole, Holroyd & Co. in Exeter in 1833. He was an advocate of homeopathy and was on the Management Committee of the Exeter Homeopathic Dispensary.