[1][2][3][4] Cathcart introduced the term "economic ornithology" at a time when there was a public debate over whether the English sparrow was a pest or a friend of the farmer.

His father was the Commander-in-Chief, Scotland and of North America and served as the Governor-General of Canada.

[6] He was educated in Edinburgh at the Scottish Naval and Military Academy, which was founded in 1825 and closed in 1869.

He served as Aide-de-camp to his father in Canada 1849–50, but resigned from the Regular Army on his marriage in 1850.

[1][8][6] After he left the Regular Army he devoted himself to agriculture and county business in Yorkshire.