He was chairman of the Canterbury Association, which encouraged British settlers to move to New Zealand.

[1] He succeeded his father as fourth Baron Lyttelton in 1837 and took his seat in the House of Lords on his 21st birthday a year later.

Lyttelton was also Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire from 1839 to 1876 and the first President of the Birmingham and Midland Institute in 1854.

They had three daughters: In 1876 Lyttelton killed himself at the age of 59 by throwing himself down the stairs in a London house.

[5] He was succeeded by his eldest son Charles, who later also inherited the viscounty of Cobham.