Born into an affluent New England family in London, he attended Eton and Cambridge and was friends with Henry James and Edith Wharton. After the death of his parents, he moved into a country house with his lover William Haynes-Smith. His first two novels were successful as far as sales were concerned; his third, Belchamber, failed to gain the same plaudits, however, although Edith Wharton praised it. Sturgis went on to publish one short story and a memorial on his friend Anne Thackeray before his death in 1920.