He was the eldest son of Robert Needham of Shavington, Shropshire, educated at Shrewsbury School (1577) and St John's College, Cambridge (1582) and trained in the law at the Inner Temple in 1583.
He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Shropshire by 1596, a deputy lieutenant of the county in 1600 and High Sheriff of Shropshire for 1606-07.