 Honywood was the son of Sir Edward Honywood, 1st Baronet and his wife Elizabeth Maynard, daughter of Sir John Maynard of Tooting, Surrey.He inherited the baronetcy of Evington on the death of his father in 1670/ In 1685 Honywood was elected Mayor  and Member of Parliament for Canterbury and held the seat until 1695.Honywood married Anna Christiana Newman daughter of Richard Newman of Fifehead Magdalen in Dorset.