The son of George Nevill, 11th Baron Bergavenny and Mary Gifford, daughter of Thomas Gifford and Anne Brooksby, he succeeded to the Barony upon the death of his father.
During the Popish Plot, given the long imprisonment of the "Five Catholic Lords" on fabricated charges of treason, and the fact that George was closely related to the Vaux and Brooksby families, who had been deeply implicated in the Gunpowder Plot,[2] his mother understandably became concerned about his safety, and in 1678 she took him to live abroad for a time.
[3] She was no doubt also concerned for her own safety, as the House of Lords had questioned her servants about her allegedly treasonable dealings.
To her dismay, when she pleaded that due to the privilege of peerage her servants were not answerable to any Court, the Lords, in defiance of all the precedents, ruled that privilege of peerage did not extend to recusants.
[5] As he died without issue, the Barony passed to his 2nd cousin once removed, also named George Nevill.