Cary was educated at home, chiefly by his father, before becoming a pupil of Henry Sass at his well-known art academy in Bloomsbury, London.

Cary later became a student at the Royal Academy and for a short time painted in the studio of Sir Thomas Lawrence.

[3] In 1841, Cary married Louisa, daughter of Charles Allen Philipps of St Bride's Hill, Pembrokeshire.

[4] Cary exhibited 35 paintings at The Royal Academy between 1837 and 1876 and was a candidate in the Westminster Hall competitions for the decoration of the Houses of Parliament, held in 1844 and 1847.

In the early part of his life, he enjoyed much of the literary society of the day through his father's social connections.