Robert Cooper Lee Bevan was born on 8 February 1809 at Hale End, Walthamstow.

He was the eldest son of fellow banker David Bevan (1774–1846), and his heiress wife, Favell Bourke Lee (1780–1841).

His father bought Trent Park as a gift to celebrate his marriage to Agneta Elizabeth Yorke.

[2] He had 16 children, seven with his first wife, Lady Agneta Elizabeth Yorke (1811–51), daughter of Vice-Admiral Hon.

Sir Joseph Sidney Yorke and Elizabeth Weake Rattray: He had a further nine children with his second wife, the translator and poet Emma Frances Shuttleworth, daughter of Philip Nicholas Shuttleworth, Bishop of Chichester: Whilst living in Brighton, Bevan saw the deplorable state of the slums, and being a Christian wanted to "push back the tide of evil and ignorance"[5] in the town.