McLaughlin's paternal grandparents were the Very Reverend Hubert McLaughlin (1805-1882)[REF] and Frederica Crofton (1816-1881), a daughter of Sir Edward Crofton, 3rd Baronet, and of Lady Charlotte Stewart (1785-1842), the youngest of the five daughters of John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway.
McLaughlin was educated at Bromsgrove School and then at Worcester College, Oxford [REF].