Like a great many of the ice hockey players who represented Great Britain on their first two Olympic appearances Ross Cuthbert was born in Canada. He travelled to Britain as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and saw service in France during World War One. Throughout the twenties he was part of an all-conquering military team, packed with ex-pat Canadians, which dominated ice hockey in Great Britain and Cuthbert was a mainstay of the national team playing in two Olympic Games and a European Championships.
He rose to the rank of Colonel in the Royal Air Force but retired from his military career in 1931 and travelled to America where he married the Chicago soap heiress Beatrice Kirk. This marriage ended in divorce.
He married again at the age of 72 to the American fashion designer Jane Derby but she died less than six months later. Cuthbert spent his retirement in Bermuda where he passed away in 1971.