The poet inherited his father's estate at the age of 18, having attended Trinity College, Cambridge from 1623 and enrolled at Gray's Inn in 1627. His intimates included Ben Jonson, Thomas Carew, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Nabbes and especially John Hales and Sir William Davenant, who later furnished John Aubrey with information about him. In 1628, Suckling left London for France and Italy, returning before the autumn of 1630, when he was knighted. In 1631 he volunteered for a force raised by the Marquess of Hamilton to serve under Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. He was back at Whitehall in May 1632, after taking part in the Battle of Breitenfeld and several sieges.