He was educated at Bishop's Stortford, then at Westminster School and at The Queen's College, Oxford, before becoming a fellow of All Souls in 1727.

His half-brother presented him to Houghton-with-Wilton in 1731 and he became a canon of Christ Church, Oxford on 8 November 1735.

He was jokingly called 'St Durham' by Horace Walpole and his associates due to his reputation for saintliness, and on his death he bequeathed £3,450 to charities and the poor in the areas in which he had lived.

[2] Trevor was also a builder, remodelling Auckland Castle, the bishop of Durham's palace, as well as his residence at Glynde Place in Sussex, where he also rebuilt the church.

[3] After his death, the estate of Glynde passed to his elder brother, Robert Hampden-Trevor, 1st Viscount Hampden.