Lord Wilton is the eldest son of Robert Egerton Grosvenor, 5th Baron Ebury, DSO, and his first wife, Anne Acland-Troyte.

[2][3] Educated at Eton College, he pursued a career in the financial services industry in London, Melbourne and Hong Kong, before taking a doctorate in Philosophy-Arts at Melbourne University (2001), where he taught as Dr Francis Ebury.

He was married firstly on 10 December 1957 to Gillian Elfrida Astley Soames (marriage dissolved 1962).

They remained married until her death 44 years later and had one daughter: His third wife was a biographer who wrote under the name "Sue Ebury": The Many Lives of Kenneth Myer; Weary the Life of Sir Edward Dunlop, Weary: King Of The River.

An editor and publisher, Lady Wilton was also a member of the Development Council of the National Library of Australia and patron of the Australian Garden History Society.