 Tomline was baptised on the 1 June 1813 at St. Margaret's, Westminster by his grandfather the Bishop of Lincoln.He was educated at Eton College, following which he made a Grand Tour in Europe mostly travelling in a gig.He succeeded to his father's estates, at Riby Grove, Lincolnshire, and Orwell Park, Suffolk, in 1836, and he also inherited through his mother, Frances ("nee" Amler or Ambler), Ford Hall near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.