The only son of John Ryland (1753–1825), by his second wife, he was born at Northampton on 5 May 1798. His early years were spent in Bristol, and he was educated at the Baptist college, over which his father presided, and at Edinburgh University, where he was a pupil of Doctor Thomas Brown.
Foreign a time he was mathematical and classical tutor at Mill Hill College, and for a short period he taught at Bradford College. He later moved to Bristol, and in 1835 went to Northampton, where he remained for the rest of his life. The degree of Master of Arts was in 1852 conferred upon him by Brown University, Rhode Island.
He died at Waterloo, Northampton, on 16 April 1866.
