He was born in the parish of St. James, Westminster, on 18 October 1790, and was the second son of William Grimaldi, miniature-painter, of Albemarle Street, London, by his wife Frances, daughter of Louis Barker of Rochester.
For upwards of forty years he practised as a solicitor in Copthall Court in the city of London.
He was eminent as a 'record lawyer,' and was engaged in several important record trials and peerage cases.
He resided for many years at Maze Hill, Greenwich; latterly at Herndon House, Eastry, Kent, where he died on 28 March 1863.
In 1825 he married Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas George Knapp of Haberdashers' Hall and Norwood, Surrey.