Career
Shaftesbury was the son of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, and Lady Frances Cecil. He was elected to the House of Commons for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in 1673, a seat he held until 1679. In 1683 he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords.
Lord Shaftesbury married Lady Dorothy Manners, daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland, in 1669.