Born at Dawlish of Devonian parentage, he trained at South London School of Art, then St Martin's School of Art. He first exhibited at the RA in 1912. In the same year, at the instigation of Lord Kitchener, he travelled to Egypt as chief inspector of the art and trade schools there. Whilst there, he was engaged by the Egyptian Secret Service to assist with the suppression of drug trafficking. Later he became Head of the Political Section of Cairo CID, becoming friendly with T E Lawrence. Subsequently he was transferred to the British General Staff and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. By 1925 he was based in St Ives and was actively involved in the formation of STISA in 1927. He worked with the Newlyn School under the direction of&...