Little is known of Hylton's early life, but later correspondence with Lady Luxborough speaks of his "shattered fortune" and mentions his "loss of a place at court".[2]
From 1753 he was a resident of Lepall House in Halesowen, where he was a neighbour of William Shenstone, through whom he became a friend of many other members of Shenstone's literary circle, including Lady Luxborough, John Pixell, Richard Graves, Richard Jago and Thomas Percy.[3] His most famous poem was "Verses, written at the Gardens of William Shenstone, Esq., near Birmingham, 1756", which was printed in the London Magazine of September 1758.[3]
