Collings was the elder son and one of six children of William Thomas Collings, Seigneur of Sark, and the lichenologist Louisa Collings (née Lukis). An exceptionally tall and well-built blue-eyed man, he was the exact opposite of his father. The two never got along with each other. Collings refused to follow his father into the Church and Trinity College, Cambridge. The compromise was a Grand Tour.
Collings was the elder son and one of six children of William Thomas Collings, Seigneur of Sark, and the lichenologist Louisa Collings (née Lukis). An exceptionally tall and well-built blue-eyed man, he was the exact opposite of his father. The two never got along with each other Collings refused to follow his father into the Church .and Trinity College, Cambridge. The compromise was a Grand Tour.