Reginald Aspinwall was born in Preston, Lancashire where his father was the editor of the Preston Guardian. He first studied art at Preston Art School. In the early 1870s Aspinwall moved to Lancaster as a student teacher at the Lancaster School of Art under the Art Master, Herbert Gilbert. In 1876 Aspinwall gained top results and received a special prize for excellence of general study. Aspinwall was a prolific artist who worked in both watercolours and oils. He seems to have adhered to the landscape genre. The School of Art continued to honour him with mentions of his success in their Annual Report of 1879 as a former student. Aspinwall became an Associate of the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1887, and exhibited there and at the Royal Academy in London intermittently from 1884 to 1908. The quality of his work varies greatly, possibly linked to the artist's growing alcohol dependence. For some years prior to his death, Aspinwall experienced great financial hardship and was forced into Lancaster Workhouse. In July 1920 he was moved to the Lancaster County Asylum as it was then. Aspinwall died there on 26 February 1921 and was buried in Lancaster Cemetery. Aspinwall has over 70 of his paintings in British public collections including several at the Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Lancashire, and 40 paintings at Lancaster City Museum.