In 1822, Hambro, who was born into a Jewish family, was baptised and confirmed into the Christian religion at the behest of his foster parents.

[1] Hambro left school in 1824 and worked in Le Havre, Antwerp and Bremen as well as North America.

He returned to Copenhagen in 1829 and joined his father, Joseph Hambro, managing an international trading house established by his grandfather.

During the 1850s he was responsible for arranging various British Government loan stock issues enabling the bank to prosper.

[3] In 1861 Hambro married, secondly, Eliza Frances Turner (1824/25-1919),[4] widow of Hervey Harris Greathe(a)d (1817-1857), BCS, political agent, Commissioner of Meerut, and one of the daughters of Thomas Jacob Turner, BCS, formerly of Worthy Park in Martyr Worthy parish, Hampshire.