Ralph Edwin Hotchkin Griffith was the younger brother of Sir Francis Griffith and the son of Francis Robert Griffith (1828 - 1901) Educated at Blundell's School and the Royal Military College.
His early positions included Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar, secretary to the head of the Province, and Resident in the turbulent region of Waziristan, where his influence and understanding of the Wazir tribesmen reduced tensions in the area.