He was the eldest son of William Short, Archdeacon of Cornwall, with Elizabeth Hodgkinson, and was born at Dawlish, Devon, where his father was then curate. After spending a year at Exeter grammar school Short was sent to Westminster School in 1803. He went with a studentship to Christ Church, Oxford, in 1809. He took a first class in classics and in mathematics in 1812, and in the following year was ordained deacon by the bishop of Oxford. He graduated B.A. 1813, M.A. 1815, B.D. 1824, D.D. 1837. He married Mary Conybeare in 1833.
