Ambrose Major Congdon was born on 2 January 1909 at West Barton a farm near Horwood in Devon, the son of William Congdon and Bessie Major Maire. His father William was a farmer; the Congdon family had laboured in this small part of the North Devon landscape throughout the nineteenth century. Congdon was a student at Carnegie Physical Training College during the 1936-37 academic year. Like many of his peers attending Carnegie at this time, he had already begun to teach Physical Education in schools. As a result, many students were in their mid-twenties when they participated at the College. Carnegie had opened three years earlier in 1933 under the stewardship of its first Warden, Ernest Major.
After Carnegie, Congdon taught PE at Bromsgrove and other schools in the Midlands and kept in touch with his Carnegie pals for many years afterwards; his letters often refer to his passion for golf. In later life, he returned to his native Devon where he died at Tiverton on 26 July 2000.