Background
Cameron was born in Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland, on 2 October 1841, the son of Ewen and Hannah (née Tomlin) Cameron.
Cameron was born in Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland, on 2 October 1841, the son of Ewen and Hannah (née Tomlin) Cameron.
He attended Kirkby Stephen Grammar School.
His family was of Scottish ancestry. He served a six-year brewing apprenticeship at the Bank Brewery in Barnard Castle. In 1865 he joined the Lion Brewery in West Hartlepool as manager.
Upon the death of the owner, William Waldon Junior, in 1872, Cameron secured a 21-year lease on the brewery and 16 public houses.
Cameron served as the chief magistrate of Hartlepool from 1889-1890. He died on 28 December 1896 and was buried in Marske, near Richmond, Yorkshire.
His personal estate was valued at £336,265. In 1905 the Cameron Hospital was opened in Hartlepool, built by the Cameron family in his memory.