He matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford in 1579[2] and entered the Middle Temple in 1583,[3] where he was still in residence as an inner barrister in 1596.
It is claimed that Colepeper's later interest in the colonization of America was stimulated by his attachment to the Middle Temple, where the great voyages of that age were a current preoccupation.
[4] In 1597 he married the daughter of a leading overseas merchant, Alderman Stephen Slaney, Lord Mayor of London in 1595.
He left his estate to his eldest son and heir Slaney Colepeper, to inherit at the age of 24.
(At the time of his inquisition post mortem in 1614,[10] Thomas's mother Elizabeth was living at Newenden.)