Henry George Chauvel was born in Tabulam, New South Wales, on 16 April 1865, the second child of a , Charles Henry Edward Chauvel, and his wife Fanny Ada Mary, née James. By 1884, Charles Henry Chauvel's station at Tabulam consisted of , on which he raised 12,000 head of cattle and 320 horses. From an early age Henry George Chauvel was known as "Harry". He was educated at Mr Belcher's School near Goulburn, before going to Sydney Grammar School from 1874 to 1880, and Toowoomba Grammar School from 1881 to 1882. While at Sydney Grammar, Harry served in the school cadet unit, rising to the rank of lance corporal. In 1886, Charles Henry was given permission to raise two troops of cavalry. On 14 March 1886, he was commissioned as a captain in the Upper Clarence Light Horse, with his sons Arthur and Harry becoming second lieutenants, while his two younger sons became troopers. The unit escorted Lord Carrington, Governor of New South Wales, when he formally opened the railway at Tenterfield in 1886.