Stanley Royle spent over a decade in Canada (1931- 1945) and during this time was very involved in shaping the Maritime arts community - both in his role as an instructor at the Nova Scotia College of Art (1931-1934) and as a professor of drawing and painting at Mount Allison University (1935-1945).

One of the ways in which Royle was influential was in choosing to paint people not normally the subject of formal portraits - he was known for sketching individuals on the street. This portrait, painted during his first year in Halifax, is an example of his practice of drawing into his art the people found in his everyday world.