 He was educated in classics at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where he became a Scholar in 1830, getting BA (Gold Medal, 1832), MA (1837).From 1833 to 1864 he worked as a clergyman in the Lake District in England, where he became friends with Wordsworth and Hartley Coleridge.On 31 May 1842 he married Helena Hutchins Bellasis (1809-1888), eldest daughter of George Hutchins Bellasis (1778-1822) and Charlotte Maude(1778-1857), of Holly Hill, Windermere.