In 1815 he entered Rugby School and in 1818 joined his father's law firm, though he would have preferred to take holy orders.
Cardale's religious beliefs were evangelical and, like other such believers, he was excited by reports of healings and glossolalia taking place in Glasgow in 1830.
In April 1831 Cardale's wife, Emma Cate nee Plummer, followed by others, began to prophesy and "sing in the Spirit".
From 1840 they gathered in the council chamber of a cathedral church that had been newly built for them by Henry Drummond at Albury near Guildford.
This was mainly the product of Cardale's efforts and it reflected his researches into the Eastern and Catholic offices, as well as the Anglican rites of his upbringing.
Around 1860 John Bate Cardale and Edward Wilton Eddis participated in the committee that edited the first Catholic Apostolic Hymnal: Hymns for the Use of the Churches which appeared in 1864 for the first time.