He was the son of Edwyn Burnaby and Anne Caroline Salisbury. He was educated at Eton and in 1848 entered the Grenadier Guards and served at Inkerman and the siege of Sebastopol. He was Brigadier-General of the British Italian Legion from 1855 to 1857. He inherited Baggrave Hall, Leicestershire on the death of his father in 1867. In 1880 he was elected Conservative member of Parliament for North Leicestershire together with Lord John Manners. He died at Brighton.