He was the third son of Martin John West and Lady Maria Walpole, third daughter of
Horatio Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford;
Edward West was his uncle. He was educated at
Eton College and
Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1850. He left after two terms, becoming a clerk in the Inland Revenue, and then transferring to the Admiralty. West was Private Secretary to Gladstone between 1861 and 1894. He was a
Progressive Party Alderman of
London County Council from 1898 to 1907. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (JP) for Middlesex. He held the office of Chairman of the Board of the Inland Revenue. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the
Order of the Bath (KCB) on 30 July 1886. He was promoted to a Knight Grand Cross of the order (GCB) in the
1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902, and was invested by King
Edward VII at
Buckingham Palace on 8 August 1902. He was later invested as a Privy Counsellor (PC). From 1880, West lived at the manor at
Wanborough, Surrey. West entertained many political figures at the manor including
Gladstone,
Queen Victoria and
Bismarck. West was also a director of the
South Eastern Railway and he caused a new station, named Wanborough but actually at
Normandy, to be opened in 1891. In 1900, Wanborough Manor was passed on to
H. H. Asquith until he became prime minister. In 1908, West returned to stay in the manor until his death in 1921. ==Family==