He was born the eldest son of Joseph William Hall-Stevenson of Skelton, in the North Riding of Yorkshire and educated at the Royal School, Armagh, Trinity College, Dublin and Lincoln's Inn.
He succeeded his father in 1786, inheriting the ruinous Skelton Castle.
He then demolished the old Skelton Castle and between 1788 and 1817 built a similarly named Gothic country house in its place.
By 1829 he was in debt and spent the next 14 years in the Fleet Debtors Prison, where he died childless in 1843.
He had two daughters who both predeceased him and was succeeded by his nephew, John Thomas Wharton.