[1] He declined the offer of an earldom by Queen Anne,[2] but 18 years after his death his eldest son was raised to the peerage in 1748 by King George II as Baron Rolle.

[citation needed] Rolle attended Queens' College, Cambridge in 1696 and entered the Inner Temple in 1697 for his training as a lawyer.

When Robert died childless in 1710, John Rolle succeeded his elder brother, inheriting his estates at Stevenstone and Bicton.

At the age of 31 in 1710 he succeeded unexpectedly to the vast estates of his elder brother Robert Rolle, the patrimony of their grandfather, and became a man of great substance and influence.

He was next elected MP for Devon in 1710 and arrived ostentatiously in London on 22 November 1710 with two six-horse coaches attended by 12 men in livery and was met by about 100 gentlemen on horseback.