 Francis Bourne was born in Clapham to Henry and Ellen Byrne Bourne on 23 March 1861.His father, a civil servant was a convert and his mother, an Irish Catholic.Bourne entered St. Cuthbert College at Ushaw Moor, County Durham in 1867 and then upon the death of his older brother in 1877, it was decided that Francis should move to St. Edmund's College in Ware, which was considered a better location for someone of his delicate health.