Cedric Hampson was born in Brisbane in 1933, the eldest of three children. He took degrees from the University of Queensland and Oxford University. In 1957 he was admitted in Queensland as a barrister at law and still practises as a barrister. He became Queen's Counsel in 1971.

In 1958 he married Catharina Brans Kremers in Amsterdam and they settled in Brisbane. They have two daughters, Edith and Alice, and two sons, Leofric and Edmund, and seven grand children. Catharina is a well known sculptress working mainly in bronze.

The family worked in their spare time a macadamia farm near Landsborough seventy five kilometres north of Brisbane from 1972 until a few years ago.

Until five years ago Cedric was an avid amateur painter but he then started writing. He has a long standing interest in literature and has always been a keen reader on many subjects. He has written several novels and numerous short stories but nothing was published until 1999.