 He was educated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.In 1689 he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Peterborough in Lincolnshire, a seat he held until 1698, and then represented Bishop's Castle from 1698 to 1700.In 1697 he succeeded his elder brother Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet (1659-1697), builder of the surviving Belton House, who committed suicide, as the 4th Baronet, and inherited his estates including Belton, which the 3rd Baronet had inherited from their childless great uncle Sir John Brownlow, 1st Baronet (c. 1595–1678) of Belton.