Born in Derby, England, Bancroft studied drawing briefly at the University of Manchester. He ran away at the age of fifteen and landed in Nova Scotia. He soon found his way to Santa Fe, New Mexico where he joined General Crook's scouts to fight the Apaches for two years.
He studied art briefly in St. Louis in 1878 before relocating to Leadville, Colorado where he made a living painting signs and decorating bars. In Leadville, he met Thomas Moran and reportedly carried the artist's paint box on a sketching trip.
Bancroft settled in Colorado Springs in 1881 where he established himself as a landscape painter. He was commissioned to paint the Grand Canyon by the Santa Fe Railroad.
