Landowner and politician. He was the only son of William Heathcote (1772–1802), Rector of Worting, and Elizabeth (1773–1855), a daughter of Lovelace Bigg-Wither (1741–1813) – he was thus a nephew of Herbert Hill’s wife. Heathcote was educated at Winchester College and then at Oriel College, Oxford, where he was taught by John Keble (1792–1866; DNB) and struck up a friendship with John Taylor Coleridge. He inherited a baronetcy and an estate (Hursley Park, Hampshire) from an uncle in 1825, and was MP for Hampshire 1826–1831, Hampshire North 1837–1849, and Oxford University 1854–1868. A staunch Tory and Tractarian, he refused to have Dissenters as tenants. He assisted Southey with arrangements for his 1820 visit to the University of Oxford and they corresponded intermittently afterwards.