Yorinori succeeded Yoritaka, who retired in 1846. Yorinori acted as an assistant to Tokugawa Yoshiatsu, the elder brother of Tokugawa Yoshinobu. Yoritaka, who retired as the lord, helped his son be appointed as a sub-assistant. Tokugawa Yoshiatsu was the tenth feudal lord of the Mito Domain, which was the Shishido han's head family. In 1864, Yorinori was ordered by the Shogunate to proceed to Mito, in order to deal with an uprising of the Tengu Party, whose members had proposed the policy with the motto of "Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians". The Tengu Party was dissatisfied with the foreign policy of the Shogunate. However, Yorinori failed to deal with the Tengu Party's threat due to his sympathy for their cause, Yorinori was a believer of Tokugawa Nariaki, a proponent of radical imperialism. In spite of his initial unwillingness, Yorinori opposed the Ichikawa Party, the aristocratic family group in the Mito Domain, and the enemy of the Tengu Party. He was subsequently blamed by the Shogunate for his opposition to the Ichikawa Party. Yorinori intended to appeal to the Shogunate by providing a reasoned defense for his actions, but—without being afforded the opportunity to defend himself—he was instead commanded to commit seppuku for disgracefully serving as "the enemy leader". This series of events were orchestrated by Ichikawa Sanzaemon, who held the majority of power in Mito. Yorinori died by Seppuku at the age of 35 on October 5, 1864, and most of his vassals were executed. In addition, Yorinori's father, Yoritaka, was deprived of feudal tenure, made to forfeit his residence in Edo, and was placed in custody of the UzenShinjo han, thereafter tainting the Shishido han. In 1868, the new government of Meiji Emperor ordered the restoration of the Shishido han, and Yorinori's father, Yoritaka, was restored as the feudal lord of the Shishido han, and the following year being named han Chiji by Imperial order. In July 1880, Yorinori's younger brother, Matsudaira Yoriyasu was handed down the birthright from his father, and Yoriyasu was awarded the title of viscount on July 8, 1884.
Yorinori's younger brother, Matsudaira Yoriyasu, has been the model of the main characters in the several short stories of Yukio Mishima. These stories' titles are ; and.
