After serving as Solicitor-General for England and Wales, his father became a Member of Parliament for Horsham, Wareham, Arundel, and Westminster.

He was elected Member of Parliament for Devonport in 1847,[4] and was appointed Solicitor-General and knighted[5] in 1848 in Lord John Russell's administration, being promoted to Attorney-General in 1850.

[6] Notable judicial decisions of Romilly include: Norris v Chambres (1861) 29 Beav 246, 54 ER 621: whether an equitable lien could be claimed in immovable property overseas against a third party.

Lord Romilly died in London on 23 December 1874, aged 72, and was succeeded in the barony his eldest son, William.

1880), who married her cousin Admiral Sir Douglas Romilly Lothian Nicholson KCMG KCVO (d. 1946), in 1907.