Francis William Henry Petrie was born in 1831 in Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.

He was a military officer and philanthropist. He was Captain with the 11th Regiment of Foot of the British Army. He travelled widely during his military career. While stationed in Sydney, Australia, he became interested in philanthropic work. He was involved in the formation of the Young Men's Christian Association there and returned to London full of organizational and evangelical zeal. In 1871, he served as an honorary secretary of the Victoria Institute, or Philosophical Society of Great Britain, and proved to be an incredibly capable administrator who began a relentless campaign of letter writing to attract prestigious and credible members. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the Geological Society of London, and a member of the Archeological Institute.

In 1862, he married Deborah Charlotte Willis (1842–1931). He died on July 21, 1900, in Middlesex, England.