Bhownagree was born the son of a merchant in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, and was educated in Elphinstone College and the University of Bombay.
Recalling to the House the contributions of Dadabhai Naoroji and Mancherjee Bhownagree, Indian MPs serving in the House of Commons, Hedderwick mooted the possibility that an autonomous India might one day be represented in an Imperial Parliament.