 His father was Reverend George William Auriol Hay-Drummond and his mother Elizabeth Margaret (Marshall) Hay-Drummond.His paternal grandfather was Robert Hay Drummond (1711–1776), who served as the Archbishop of York from 1761 to 1776.He graduated from Christ Church, Oxford, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1807 and a Master of Arts degree in 1809.