The Thorleys, Jacob's fathers family, and the Ashtons, Jacobs mothers family, are a pair of old aristocratic pureblooded families, meaning Jacob lived an incredibly privileged childhood, often being spoilt rotten. Yet equally, there was much expectation him, as the sole heir to both families. Being that both families are old, they still hold old fashioned views on many things, particularly around Blood Status, which Jacob began to pick up on as he grew older. These views were encouraged by his family, and the many tutors that his parents had hired to provide him with a basic education. Whilst he was still very young, much of his time was spent around these tutors, and various nannies, as his father was exceedingly busy with work, and his mother had her own duties to attend to.

Jacobs father works as an Auror, holding a reputation of being incredibly efficient, and skilled at his job. His mother, however, did not work, instead acting as a socialite and representative of both families, manouvering in various social gatherings for pure-blooded families, or families of ministry workers. Jacob was dragged along to many of these meetings ever since he turned eight, where he was deemed to be mature enough that he would not be a risk to their image. As he grew, he came to despise these meetings, but every value that he had been taught, told him that it was a necessary duty for an heir, so he put on a brave face.

Jacob aspires to follow in his fathers footsteps, having developed an interest in Defence Against the Dark Arts, prior to even having started Hogwarts, after listening to his father recall his various exploits on the job. This interest was fostered, and encouraged by his parents, buying him any books, or resources that he wanted, whenever he developed a new interest or hobby.

When Jacob was still a young child, his mother had placed his toy on a shelf far out of his reach, and despite his best efforts at trying to find a way to climb, and retrieve it. He was completely unable to find anyway up, and began to feel annoyed. As this frustration grew, suddenly the shelf that was holding his toy snapped, causing all the books, and his toy, to come clattering down onto the ground. Without him even realising, causing that shelf to snap had been his first instance of magic.