He was educated at Eton and Merton College, Oxford, and then worked for the Foreign Office and as private secretary to his father.

Northcote was elected to the House of Commons in 1880, and served as Financial Secretary to the War Office (1885–86) and Surveyor-General of the Ordnance (1886–88) during Lord Salisbury's first and second terms as prime minister.

Northcote played a relatively active role in politics, due to the unstable three-party system then in place.

[citation needed] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1880[1] and created a Baronet, of Seamore Place in the Parish of St George, Hanover Square, in the County of Middlesex, in 1887.

[6] Lord and Lady Northcote left London in late January,[7] and arrived in Bombay the following month,[8] where he took up the position of Governor on 17 February 1900 and was appointed a Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (GCIE) on the same day.

[9] Northcote was still Governor of Bombay when the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, offered him the post of Governor-General of Australia in 1903.

In doing this, he sought the advice of the Chief Justice of the newly created High Court of Australia, Sir Samuel Griffith.

He was actively involved in negotiations between the British and Australian governments over contentious trade and shipping issues, although his role diminished after 1906 when the Liberal Party came to power in Britain, cutting off much of his influence in London.

Deakin, although a loyal Imperialist, believed that Australian parliaments should be sovereign in Australia, and bluntly told Northcote so.