Kirkby first appears in the historical record in the chancery during the reign of King Henry III of England.
When Henry's son Edward I came to the throne, Kirkby was given the title vice-chancellor, because he often had custody of the Great Seal when the Chancellor, Robert Burnell, was absent from England.
[1] Often considered Burnell's protégé,[2] Edward used Kirkby in 1282 as a collector of moneys for the king's Welsh campaigns.
Book-keeping methods were updated, information on sources of income improved, and efforts to collect debts to the crown intensified.
[9] On 26 July 1286 he was elected Bishop of Ely, and was ordained as a priest and then consecrated on 22 September 1286 by Peckham, who did not object on pluralism grounds this time.