Born at Ogbourne St. Andrew, Wiltshire, on 21 July 1823, he was son of Robert Canning of Ogbourne and his wife Frances Hyde; he was educated at Salisbury.
Canning gained his first engineering experience (1844-9) as assistant to Messrs. Locke & Errington on the Great Western railway extensions, and as resident engineer on the Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston railway [REF].