[1][2] Born on 24 June 1254, he was the son and heir of Roger Northwood,[1] who died on 9 November 1285, and his first wife Bona Waltham.
[2] In 1278 he had a position in the household of Robert Kilwardby, Archbishop of Canterbury and,[2] after succeeding his father in 1285, was chosen as High Sheriff of Kent in 1291, sitting also on the commission of oyer and terminer for the county.
From 1298 to 1319 he was regularly summoned to the war in Scotland, serving in person or sending deputies, and combined these duties with a wide range of administrative posts in his native Kent.
In 1317 he and his eldest son were deputed to escort two cardinals from Dover to London, on a mission from the Vatican to help negotiate a peace between England and Scotland, and in 1318 he was referred to as one of the country's “major barons”.
[1] He died on 26 May 1319 and is commemorated by a brass in the church of Minster-in-Sheppey His arms, recorded on the Parliamentary roll, were: ermine, a cross engrailed gules.