Tuhia he tomokanga mō tēnei wāhanga - I iriiria ia ki St Benet's i Rānana, ko ia te tama a Robert Dormer, 1st Earl o Carnarvon me Lady Anna Sophia Herbert, tamahine a Philip Herbert, 4th Earl o Pembroke. I whakaakona a Dormer i te Whare Wananga o Oxford, i puta ai ia hei Kaiwhakaako Toi i te tau 1648. I te tau 1643, i te matenga o tona papa i te Pakanga Tuatahi o Newbury
I riro i a ia ngā taitara o tōna pāpā, ā, ka noho ko ia te Tumuaki Avenor, me te Kaitiaki o ngā Hoki o te Kīngi. I mate tona whaea i etahi marama i mua atu.