Ordained a Jesuit in 1865, attached to the Sacred Heart, Edinburgh and then St Aidan's College, Grahamstone, he later joined the Jesuit Missionary Expedition to the Zambesi which left Scotland in May 1879. While crossing the African subcontinent, his party was beset by native highwaymen who stole his waggon and all his property and supplies, left to continue his 170 mile journey on foot, he caught fever after wading through a swamp and died destitute and alone.