[1] Sir Thomas Leighton, Governor of Guernsey was his uncle.
[2] Both his father and his uncle are said to have enjoyed the trust of Queen Elizabeth I.
He was educated at Shrewsbury School (1566) and studied law at the Inner Temple in 1571.
[2] As a young man, he was a soldier and may have served in the Low Countries.
[2] He married Elizabeth (d. 1626), the daughter of Sir William Gerard, Lord Chancellor of Ireland[2] Their children:[5]