[1] He was the eldest of four sons of Sir William Mackworth Young (1840–1924), KCSI, JP, of the Indian Civil Service, who was Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab from 1897 to 1902, and his second wife Frances Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Eyles Egerton, KCSI, JP, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab from 1877 to 1882.
[5][6] Gerard Mackworth Young assumed the surname of Mackworth-Young by deed poll in 1947.
[3] He entered the Indian Civil Service in 1907 by examination and, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, was assigned to the Punjab.
In 1936, after two of the school's directors died in close succession, he was offered the directorship, despite his limited archaeological experience.
In 1916, he married Natalie Leila Margaret, daughter of Rt Hon Sir Walter Francis Hely Hutchinson, GCMG, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope from 1901 to 1910, son of the 4th Earl of Donoughmore.