He was president of the Poor Law Board in the Earl of Derby's short-lived 1852 Conservative administration.
He was educated at Eton and later served with the 10th Hussars, achieving the rank of captain.
[5] In 1868, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Kesteven, of Casewick in the County of Lincoln.
[6] Lord Kesteven married Julia Maria, daughter of Sir Robert Sheffield, 4th Baronet, in 1847.
He died in December 1874, aged 74, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son, John.