Geoffrey Woolsey Birks was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He attended Bradford college of art for 2 years as a full-time student and studied privately in the tuition of F.C. Jones RA. He worked mainly in the textile trade in the industrial towns of Yorkshire and the North of England, rising to the position of Production Director.

Realising that the Northern industrial scene was in decline along with its inherent characters, and skyline, he decided to capture some of these fast disappearing aspects of the past. In doing so he 'caught' the humour and atmosphere of the Northern character both in the people and landscape.
His 'trademark' being his version of a black cat, Whiskers, which appears somewhere in all his pictures.

He was an internationally recognised artist, having exhibited his work in the UK, Canada, USA, Australia and South Africa.

After a long fight with cancer throughout which he continued business as usual, he died at his home in Pudsey in December 1993.

His legacy is the unique way in which he recorded a 'fast disappearing way of life'.