[1] He took holy orders, but he never held any preferment, except that he was rector of the family living of Porthkerry, Glamorgan, from 1830 to 1837,[2] and chaplain to Thomas Musgrave, Archbishop of York, who had been a friend at Trinity.
He belonged to the liberal party in the university, led by George Peacock and Adam Sedgwick, Romilly's intimate friend.
[3] On 23 March 1832 Romilly was elected registrary of the University of Cambridge after a competition with Temple Chevallier, and remained in this office until 1861, when he retired.
He died suddenly at Yarmouth, of heart disease, on Sunday 7 August 1864, and was buried in a vault in Christ Church, Barnwell.
Joseph Romilly, Fellow of Trinity College and Registrary of the University of Cambridge (2009), edited by John Patrick Tuer Bury.