Born at Broad Hinton, Wiltshire, about 1664, he was the son of Julius Glanvil of Lincoln's Inn, by his wife, Anne Bagnall of St. Dunstan-in-the-West, London; Sir John Glanville was his grandfather.
He became a commoner of Trinity College, Oxford, in 1678, was elected scholar 10 June 1680, and graduate B.A.
[1] In 1683 Glanvill stood for a fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, but Thomas Creech was elected.
Glanvill was affronted, and, according to Thomas Hearne, was expelled by his college.
[1] Glanvill died a wealthy bachelor on 12 June 1735, aged 71, at Catchfrench, in St. Germans, Cornwall, an estate he had purchased in 1726.