 Born Richard Long, the son of Richard Penruddocke Long, he had assumed by Royal licence the surname of Chaloner in lieu of Long in 1881, as a condition of inheriting the Guisborough estate and Gisborough Hall from his maternal great-uncle, Admiral Thomas Chaloner.The latter was a descendant through his mother of Robert de Brus, who founded Gisborough Priory in 1119.Lord Gisborough's eldest son and heir Richard Godolphin Hume Long Chaloner was accidentally killed in France in 1917 while guarding German prisoners of war, and is buried at Calais.