Vernon was the son of Henry Vernon, of Sudbury, Derbyshire, and his wife Anne, daughter and heiress of Thomas Pigott by his wife Mary, sister and heiress of Sir Peter Venables, Baron of Kinderton, Cheshire. His father died in 1719 and in 1728 he assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Venables.
In 1762 he was raised to the peerage as Lord Vernon, Baron of Kinderton, in the County of Chester. Lord Vernon was married three times and several of his descendants gained distinction. Mary, daughter of Thomas Howard, 6th Baron Howard of Effingham, in 1733.
Edward Harcourt (who assumed the surname of Harcourt) became Archbishop of York and was the grandfather of Sir William Vernon Harcourt and the great-grandfather of Lewis Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt.
Lady Vernon died in 1794.
He later sat as a Member of Parliament for Lichfield from 1731 to 1747 and for Derby from 1754 to 1762.
