 He was schooled at Harrow and served briefly in the 1st Dragoon Guards.In 1828-9 he travelled in Russia, Turkey, Persia and Greece, and later had an account of his travels privately printed.He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the rotten borough of Newton, Lancashire between 1826 and 1830, and after the Great Reform Act, sat for Ludlow, Shropshire from 1839 to 1840, and having lost elections such as the 1841 East Surrey by-election served that seat from 1847 to 1865.