He was born in the parish of St. James, Piccadilly, 27 December 1741, and admitted at Westminster School in 1755.

The rectory of Lee in Kent and the second prebendal stall in Rochester Cathedral were conferred upon him in 1773.

Early in 1794 he was nominated to the bishopric of Bristol, his consecration taking place on 11 May; and after three years was translated to the see of Exeter (March 1797), holding the archdeaconry of Exeter in commendam from that year until his death, and retaining as long as he lived his London rectory.

His wife, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham, whom he married in January 1774, lived till 31 October 1815.

A monument to Bishop Reginald Courtenay exists in Powderham Castle, seat of the Earl of Devon, in the Victorian Dining Hall, built between 1847 and 1860, in the form of a heraldic chimneypiece.