[2] In March 1850 aged 15, Wolff left Hamburg to live in Liverpool with his uncle, Gustav Christian Schwabe, a financier.

[2] Wolff was educated at Liverpool College;[2] afterwards he served an apprenticeship at the engineers Joseph Whitworth and Company, in Manchester.

[2] After serving his apprenticeship, Wolff was employed by the B. Goodfellow Ltd., a firm based in Hyde, Greater Manchester as a draughtsman.

[2] In 1857, due to the intervention of his uncle Gustav Christian Schwabe,[2] Wolff was employed as Edward Harland's personal assistant at Robert Hickson's shipyard at Queen's Island, Belfast.

[2] Wolff was able to secure a good relationship with the Hamburg America Line, which was managed by Albert Ballin, who was also of Jewish background.

[8] Edward Harland and Gustav Wolff were known in the House of Commons as "Majestic" and "Teutonic", the names of two ships that the company built.

He replaced Edward de Cobain who had been expelled from the House of Commons and was later jailed for homosexual offences.

[10] After his retirement from Parliament, Wolff lived almost exclusively in London,[10] where he died on 17 April 1913 at his home, 42 Park Street.

Amongst his bequests was £200 to Letitia Alice Walkington, the first woman to graduate with a degree of Bachelor of Laws in Great Britain or Ireland.