[3] North developed a good practice at the bar, helped by his elder brother Francis who became Lord Chancellor.

[4] During the Popish Plot, while Francis succumbed to the prevailing anti-Catholic hysteria, Roger remained detached and sceptical.

Although he was always loyal to his brother's memory, Roger admitted that during the Plot "wise men behaved like stark fools".

[7] The Glorious Revolution stopped his advancement, and he retired to his estate of Rougham in Norfolk and increased his fortune by marrying the daughter of Sir Robert Gayer.

He was also a learned connoisseur of architecture and designed a new gateway for the Middle Temple in London and a Palladian extension to his house at Rougham.