De Vere was the son of Sir Vere Hunt, 1st Baronet and Honorary Eleanor Pery, daughter of William Pery, 1st Baron Glentworth. He married Mary Spring Rice, the daughter of Stephen Edward Rice and Catherine Spring, and sister of Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon, in 1807.
He succeeded to his father"s title in 1818.
He was educated at Harrow School, where he was a childhood friend of Lord Byron, and Trinity College, Dublin.
The Hunt/de Vere family estate for 300 years (1657–1957), including the period of the de Vere Baronetcy of Curragh, is the present day Curraghchase Forest Park, in County Limerick. De Vere spent most of his life on the estate and was closely involved in its management. He changed his surname from Hunt to de Vere in 1832, in reference to his Earl of Oxford ancestors, dating back to Aubrey de Vere I, a tenant-in-chief in England of William the Conqueror in 1086.
He served as High Sheriff of County Limerick in 1811.
He began writing poetry for publication at the age of thirty.
