Originally; essentially; by nature — used to express the inherent or original state of something (formal/written).
彼は元来まじめな人だから、今回の失敗は珍しい。
He is basically a serious person, so this failure is unusual.
その考え方は元来日本にあったものではない。
That way of thinking was not originally present in Japan.
In the first place; to begin with — used to indicate the original starting point or reason.
元来この計画は小規模で始められた。
Originally this project was started on a small scale.
元来、彼は人前で話すのが苦手だ。
To begin with, he is not good at speaking in public.