Luffman Atterbury was a carpenter, builder and musician. Atterbury studied the harpsichord, composition, and harmony in the leisure time he could spare from his business, which was carried on in Turn Again Lane, Fleet Market. He acquired considerable proficiency in music, and on the death of his father, being left tolerably well off, gave up his business and retired to Teddington. He obtained several prizes from the Catch Club for his glees, and was appointed a musician in ordinary to George III.