Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the grandson of Hibbert Newton Binney and the son of the Reverend Hibbert Binney and Henrietta Amelia Stout. Hibbert Binney Sr. was the rector of St George's Church in Sydney. In 1823, Binney Sr. returned to England with his family to become rector of Newbury, Berkshire. From 1833, he was the minister of Trinity Chapel, Knightsbridge, London.[1] The family lived at Mound House, 11 Holland Park Avenue, north Kensington.[2]
Binney Jr. was educated at King's College London, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Worcester College, Oxford in 1842. He was ordained deacon by the Bishop of OxfordRichard Bagot in 1842 and was appointed a fellow of Worcester College. In 1844, he received his Master of Arts and was appointed tutor in 1846. In 1848, he became bursar of Worcester College.
In 1851, Binney was named Bishop of Nova Scotia and was consecrated in London by Archbishop John Bird Sumner of Canterbury and assisted by Bishops Blomfield of London, Wilberforce of Oxford, and Gilbert of Chichester.
He was married to Mary Bliss (1829–1903), the daughter of William Blowers Bliss and Sarah Ann Anderson. Binney lived for years with Rosina in what is now known as the Black-Binney House, which is now a national historic site.[3]
