 He was the only surviving son of Samuel and his wife Anne, daughter of Benjamin Clarke, esq., of Stanley, near Wakefield, Yorkshire.After receiving a classical education at St. John's College, Cambridge, he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, and by the favour of the Duke of Devonshire, lord chamberlain, he was appointed one of the Grooms of the Privy Chamber and an Esquire of the king's household.On 2 June 1796 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.