[1] He was educated at Stonyhurst College, and having studied law under Charles Butler he was called to the bar, but never practiced, preferring to devote himself to antiquarian pursuits.
His edition of Jocelin de Brakelond's Chronicle of the Abbey of St. Edmunds, published by the Camden Society in 1840,[3] furnished Thomas Carlyle with much of his materials for Past and Present (1843).
Many papers by him appeared in Archaeologia, many of these being republished as separate pamphlets, including the description of the Benedictionals of St. Æthelwold and of Robert of Jumieges; he also printed the genealogy of the Rokewode family with charters relating thereto in Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, II.
The Gentleman's Magazine published a full list of his work with the Society of Antiquaries, these include,[1] Many of his manuscripts were sold after his death with his valuable library.
However, Sir Thomas Rokewode-Gage, 8th Baronet, retained many of these, which he donated to the library of the Bury and West Suffolk Archaeological Institute when it was established in 1848.