Max Woosnam was born at Liverpool, the son of Maxwell Woosnam, a clergyman who served as canon of Chester and Archdeacon of Macclesfield, and his wife Mary Seeley, daughter of Hilton Philipson. The Woosnam family were landed gentry, of Cefnllysgwynne, Brecknockshire, Wales, originally of Montgomeryshire. Woosnam spent most of his childhood in Aberhafesp, Mid Wales. He attended Winchester College, where he captained the golf and cricket teams, and also represented the school at football and squash. As a schoolboy, he made scores of 144 and 33 not out for a Public Schools XI while playing against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's.