He was educated at the Belfast Royal Academy, Glasgow University, and Trinity College Dublin.
In 1848, with Joseph Mayer and Henry Clark Pidgeon, he established the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, of which he was a mainstay for many years.
In 1858 and 1859 he gave evidence before select committees of the House of Lords, first on divine worship in populous places, and secondly on church rates.
[1] In 1867 Hume was sent on a tour by the South American Missionary Society, and explored the west coast, especially Chile and Peru.
He was an activist for the formation of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, and on its creation in 1880 designed the episcopal seal.