Young was born in England of Scottish ancestry and studied at London University. He married Nora Creina Bacon (11 January 1835 – 5 June 1925) of
Swanscombe,
Kent in 1851. They left for South Australia on 16 November 1854, in the
Flora Kerr. They were hospitably treated by
Wilfrid Kent Hughes of "Avenel", Robe Terrace,
North Adelaide, where Nora's second child was born, but died in August. They took a cottage in Ward Street, North Adelaide. In February 1856 Young was appointed Draughstman with the Public Works Department, and by September 1856 was working as a surveyor. :Nora Creina Young was a daughter of
Major General Bacon and Lady Bacon (1801–1880), who before her marriage was
Lady Charlotte Harley, the beauty to whom
Lord Byron dedicated, as "Ianthe", his ''
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage''. Nora's brothers Edward and Harley Bacon also settled in South Australia. Lady Bacon followed them and lived in Adelaide from 1865 to 1877 They returned to England, where the brothers stood to gain a sizeable inheritance on condition that they adopt the surname Harley. He invested heavily in land – he bought a few acres of land on Fuller Street,
Walkerville, with a house, built by Captain
John Walker, which he dubbed "Swanscombe" and which remained the family home. He bought a block at
Kanmantoo, on which he planted a vineyard and started making wine, his "St. George claret" having a good reputation. He purchased a large run on the Blyth Plains, part of which he subdivided and leased to farmers, the balance being stocked with sheep, or sown with wheat. He leased land north of Port Augusta which he stocked with beef cattle. He established Mount Templeton Station, owned
Macumba Station and large tracts of land at
The Hummocks,
Andamooka,
Port Broughton, and
Port Pirie. A notable employee at "Swanscombe" and the Kanmantoo Estate was the
Ngarrindjeri man
David Unaipon (1872–1967). ==Politics==