Samuel D. Broughton was born in Bristol in 1787, the son of an Anglican clergyman. After his medical training he was appointed as assistant surgeon to the Dorsetshire militia before transferring to the 2nd Life Guards in 1812, where he became additional surgeon to J. Carrick Moore, the elder brother of General Sir John Moore. He served with the Life Guards in the Peninsular campaign, the south of France and at the Battle of Waterloo. In 1821 Broughton became regimental surgeon in succession to Moore and thereafter resided in London.