 He was born at Springhill, Moneymore, County Londonderry, to Laura Calvert Arbuthnot, fourth daughter of Isabella Boyle and George Arbuthnot, and Sir William Fitzwilliam Lenox-Conyngham KCB DL JP, first son of Charlotte Staples and William Lenox-Conyngham.He was the seventh of eleven children.When he was aged ten, his family moved to Edinburgh, where he attended Edinburgh Academy.