He was born the son of Nathaniel Chevalier, a clergyman of Great Casterton, Rutland and educated at Stamford School and St John's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded BA in 1750/51, MA in 1754, BD in 1762 and DD in 1777.[3]
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1754 for, according to his candidature citation, "his known Zeal for the Newtonian Philosophy, of which he was the first promoter in Lisbon".