 His grandfather was James Drinkwater, Mayor of Liverpool in 1810 who married a Miss Elinor Leece, of Ballamona, Braddan.The long European peace, which followed the Battle of Waterloo, resulted in many English children being sent to France for education, among them William Leece Drinkwater, who attended Angoulëme College and became fluent in French.He then attended the Royal Institution School in Liverpool and then St John's College, Cambridge.