He succeeded to the title on 25 June 1926 on the death of his cousin, Sir John Robert Gladstone, the 3rd Baronet.
He was the son of John Neilson Gladstone, an older brother of William Ewart Gladstone, who later became Prime Minister, and Elizabeth Honoria Bateson.
[1] He attended William Gladstone's state funeral in 1898.
[2] Gladstone was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.
He was an officer in the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Cavalry.