He was born on 28 March 1884 and educated at Rugby School, before entering University College, University of Oxford to study Law. Upon completing his degree, he rejected the family law practice to study Medicine. After qualifying in 1911 and obtaining the FRCS, he turned to pathology and started to publish papers, with a brief interlude as a Red Cross surgeon in World War I. From 1915, he worked as a bacteriologist in charge of the Standards council, Oxford, and became a Fellow of University College.