[1] He was the eldest of five children born to Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Horatio Kitchener (1805–1894) and his first wife Anne Frances Chevallier (1826–1864).

He spent his early life in Tralee in Ireland, where he and his siblings received their education from governesses and tutors.

[2] He saw his first action in Burma with the British Army, where he was chief transport officer of the Field Force's during the Manipur Expedition in 1891.

[6] With the outbreak of the First World War, he was recalled to the army and was posted to take up a command post in South West Africa; he was also put in command of a British Expeditionary Force sent to fight the Germans in East Africa.

[3][5][7] In accordance with a special remainder in the letters patent, he succeeded his younger brother as second Earl Kitchener on 5 June 1916.