The artist was born in Sheffield in 1880, the son of police constable.  He initially trained as a cutler (known back then in Sheffield as the "Little Mesters"), specializing in making farriers' knives for leading Sheffield firms, before eventually setting up his own business - J. H. Laver & Company, Cambridge Street.  

In his 20's he attended Sheffield School of Art where he studied under Austin Winterbottom and began to acquire a national reputation as an artist.  He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1938 and was a member of the Hallamshire Society of Artists, the Heeley Art Society and the Sheffield Society of Artists.  His obituary in the Sheffield Telegraph noted that "most of the major art galleries in the country exhibited [his] pictures", and some of his paintings, particularly of industrial scenes, have sold very well.

It probably deserves a better frame considering the history behind this painting - I don't think the frame it's in is the original and it could do with something more reflective of the time it was made