 He was the eldest son and third of fifteen children of Captain John Lyons of Antigua (20 October 1760 – 6 February 1816), who was a British owner of extensive sugar plantations, of in total, in Antigua, and whose English residence was St. Austens, Lymington, Hampshire.His mother was Catherine Walrond, who was the daughter of the 5th Marquis de Vallado and Sarah Lyons (1731–1764).His paternal grandfather was John Lyons (1731–1775), who had succeeded to the 563 acre Lyons Estate in Antigua in 1748 and served as a member of the Council of Antigua from 1764 to 1775.