He was the eldest son of Sir George Wombwell, 2nd Baronet and Lady Anne Belasyse.

From his parents' marriage, he had a younger brother, Henry Walter Wombwell, who died unmarried.

[2] From his father's second marriage, he had a half-sister, Louisa (née Wombwell) Beauclerk (best known for her lengthy relationship with Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, grandson of King George III and cousin of Queen Victoria),[3] and a half-brother, Charles Orby Wombwell (who married his wife's sister, Charlotte Catherine Hunter, in 1836).

His maternal grandparents were Henry Belasyse, 2nd Earl Fauconberg of Newborough, Yorkshire, and the former Hon.

[6] On 23 June 1824, Wombwell married Georgiana Hunter (1807–1875) at the bride's father's house in Grosvenor Place, London.