Born the son of the Reverend Augustus William Noel and Lucy Noel (née Tonge), Noel was educated at All Saints' School, Bloxham.Old Bloxhamist Society, A History of Bloxham School (H.E. Boddy & Co. Ltd, Banbury, 1978), 4. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Illustrious at Portsmouth on 1 December 1858. He was appointed a midshipman in the second-rate HMS Hannibal in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1859 and transferred to the frigate HMS Shannon on the North America and West Indies Station in 1862. Promoted to sub-lieutenant on 7 March 1864, he transferred to the paddle sloop HMS Basilisk on the China Station in January 1865 and, having been promoted to lieutenant on 21 April 1866, he transferred again to the sloop HMS Rattler which was wrecked in September 1868.Heathcote, p. 193 He attended the gunnery school HMS Excellent in 1870 and then became gunnery officer in the armoured ship HMS Minotaur, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron, in February 1871. He joined the corvette HMS Active on the West Coast of Africa Station in late 1873 and commanded a naval brigade which took part in the capture of Kumasi in February 1874 during the Second Anglo-Ashanti War.
