He was born in London, the eldest son of Thomas Sheridan, colonial treasurer in the Cape of Good Hope, and the novelist Caroline Henrietta Callander of Craig forth and the grandson of his namesake, the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
[2] His maternal grandfather was Sir James Campbell.
After his father died in 1817, his mother moved to London with her seven children.
[4] He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Shaftesbury from 1845 to 1852 and for Dorchester from 1852 until he retired in 1868 and also Deputy Lieutenant for Dorset.
[7] Together, they were the parents of three daughters and six sons:[8] Sheridan died on 2 May 1888.