Truscott was born in Truro, Cornwall in 1824 to James Truscott and educated at King's College London. In 1847 he married Eliza Freeman. They had two sons and one daughter,
Truscott was a wholesale stationer and head of the firm, Messrs James Truscott and Sons, of Suffolk Lane, London. He was elected a member of the Court of Common Council for the Dowgate Ward in 1858 and was Sheriff of London and Middlesex in 1871. Truscott was an unsuccessful Conservative candidate for the Dudley ward in 1865. A keen freemason, he was Grand Bard of England. Wyatt was appointed Worshipful Master of No. 1 Grand Masters Lodge at the resumption of his mayoralty.[1] In November 1880, the Temple Bar Memorial, also known as Truscott's Folly, was unveiled at Temple Bar by the Duke of Albany. The dragon atop the memorial is often misdescribed as a griffin. He was also the first President of the London Society of Artists.[2][3]