He was educated at Kelvedon in Essex, and admitted as a sizar to St. John's College, Cambridge, on 2 May 1834, graduating B.A.
In 1847 he became domestic chaplain to William Dawnay, 7th Viscount Downe, who in the same year presented him to the vicarage of Danby, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, which he held till his death.
Comparisons have been made with Gilbert White's Natural History of Selborne, and Hugh Miller's Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland.
Other works were:[3] He edited:[3] He also contributed papers to archaeological societies, and in 1872 assisted Hensleigh Wedgwood in revising his Dictionary of English Etymology.
[3] Atkinson was married three times: first, at Scarborough on 11 December 1849, to Jane Hill (d. 2 April 1860), eldest daughter of John Hill Coulson of Scarborough ; secondly, on 1 February 1862, at Frome Selwood, to Georgina Mary, eldest daughter of Barlow Slade of North House, Frome ; and thirdly, on 28 April 1884 at Arncliff church, to Helen Georgina, eldest daughter of Douglas Brown, Q.