As Clerk of the House he was head of the Legislative Department, responsible for administrative services to Parliament prior to the creation of the Parliamentary Service in 1985 and the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives in 1988.

[3] He began his career in the public service when he was appointed as a Clerical Cadet with the Audit Department in Wellington on 21 January 1929.

[4] While working at Public Trust he completed a Bachelor of Laws degree at Victoria University of Wellington, graduating in 1936 (together with his predecessor Henry Nelson Dollimore).

[5] From 1942 to 1945 he served in the Pacific as a Flight-Lieutenant with the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War.

[6] After Roussell completed three year's service with the RNZAF he was, on 14 September 1945, appointed as Officer in Charge of the Education Section of the Rehabilitation Department.