[1] Called to the Irish Bar, he fought as a militia captain at the Battle of Vinegar Hill, and then volunteered with his company into the line.
[2] In 1810, Sterling and his family moved to Llanblethian in the Vale of Glamorgan, and during his residence there Edward Sterling, under the signature of "Vetus," contributed a number of letters to The Times.
In that year he moved to Paris, but on the escape of Napoleon from Elba in 1815 took up residence in London, obtaining a position on the staff of The Times; and during the late years of Thomas Barnes's administration he was practically editor.
His fiery, emphatic and oracular mode of writing conferred those characteristics on The Times which were recognized in the nickname, the "Thunderer.
Her uncle Walter Coningham (died 1830) had made a fortune through the sugar plantations of St Vincent, and his money, based on slave labour, supported the Sterlings.