Broad was born in Liskeard, where his family ran a grocery business. He was a pupil of the FORBES SCHOOL in the period 1906-10, later becoming an exhibiting artist in his home area of Liskeard, and also a member of the British Watercolour Society.

He fell in love with Polperro at an early age, and spent a great deal of time in the fishing port indulging his passions for art and photography. During the 1890s and early 1900s he befriended a number of artists there.

He was the initial president of the Liskeard Art Club when it was formed in 1944. Three years later this became the East Cornwall Society of Artists, which is still flourishing in Polperro today. In 1946, the year before his death, he wrote for the Cornish Guardian two long articles, 'Polperro Pictures and Painters', which provided some fascinating insights into the life of its early artist community.