In 1799, he entered Peterhouse, Cambridge[4] and then University College, Oxford[5] where he graduated BA (1803) and MA (1806).

A committed anti-slavery campaigner, he worked with the Church Missionary Society to set up a university in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to ensure that freed slaves had access to education.

An environmentalist well ahead of his time, he planted Ryton's churchyard with oak, sweet chestnut and beech trees, now in their maturity.

In a similar far sighted move, he arranged for his family to buy the Farne Islands, employing a wildlife warden to protect threatened bird species.

As an innovator in alleviating poverty, he set up this country's first 'penny bank', in Ryton, allowing those with small incomes to borrow at rates they could afford.