[citation needed] He was admitted to Clare College, Cambridge in 1717.
In 1740 he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Lord-Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets and Constable of the Tower of London,[2] posts he held until 1762.
[citation needed] In 1753 he was created Viscount Brome, in the County of Suffolk, and Earl Cornwallis.
[3] Lord Cornwallis married the Honourable Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend, in 1722.
They had seven children: He died in June 1762, aged 62, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles, who became a prominent military commander and was created Marquess Cornwallis in 1792.