After education at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, Vivian became manager of his family’s Hafod copper works and colliery in the Swansea valley before moving to St. Columb Minor to manage the family’s Cornish businesses.

Vivian sat as Liberal Member of Parliament in 1868 for Cornwall West from 1868 until 1885 and served as High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1889.

A frequent traveller, Vivian published ‘Wanderings in the Western Land’ in 1879 recounting his journeys in North America.

Retiring in 1882, Vivian bought the Bosahan estate on the Helford River and died there in 1926 at the age of 92.