He rose to be the Editor of the Athenaeum, a leading British literary magazine in the 19th century.
He was articled to a firm of Manchester solicitors and studied for the bar, but was not called.
[1] While at Cambridge he began a lengthy career as a leading contributor to the Athenaeum in 1828, and published Australia, a Poem (1824) and Prometheus (1832).
Hervey died in Haverstock Hill, London, England in 1859 and was buried on the western side of Highgate Cemetery.
An obituary in the Gentlemen's Magazine criticized his work as a reviewer, saying it was "characterized by a causticity of censure and a costiveness of praise, scarcely worthy of a journal of high standing.