He was New Zealand's inaugural Baby of the House and remains the youngest member of parliament in the country's history; in fact he was too young (at 20 years and 7 months) to even be legally elected.
Stuart-Wortley was born in York[citation needed], United Kingdom, on 16 January 1833[3] and was the third son of the 2nd Lord Wharncliffe and his wife, Lady Georgiana Elizabeth Ryder.
[6] In his first year, he lived with other bachelors in Lyttelton—Charles Bowen, Thomas Hanmer, and Charles Maunsell—in a place dubbed "Singleton House" by Charlotte Godley.
[4] In October 1852, he purchased Run 53, located between Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora and the Selwyn River.
[8] On 27 August 1853, Stuart-Wortley was elected to the 1st New Zealand Parliament as a representative of the Christchurch Country electorate,[9] which consisted of rural Canterbury and much of Westland.