He was born to John Gladstone, a wholesale draper in Hackney, London and Alison Hall, as the eldest of three sons. The three brothers were educated entirely at home under tutors, and from very early days all showed a strong inclination toward natural science. In 1842 the father retired from business, and the family spent a year in travelling on the continent. Part of this time was passed in Italy with their old friends: Charles Tilt, his wife and their daughter May, who in 1852 became the wife of John Hall Gladstone.