In 1136 he was a supporter of King Stephen of England's seizure of the English throne from Matilda, the daughter of the previous king, Henry I. Roger built Benington Castle and gave lands to Binham Priory in the early part of Stephen's reign, but was dead by 1142.
[3] Roger succeeded to his father's estates near Bennington after 1109, and by holding these lands he is generally considered to be a feudal baron.
[6] Roger issued a confirmation charter to Binham Priory,[7] founded by his father,[2] that is slightly unusual in that it mentions a "decree that where there is no son the daughters divide their father's land by the spindles, nor can the elder take from the younger half of the inheritance by violence or injury".
The historian Pauline Stafford has related this decree to Henry's attempts to have his daughter Matilda succeed him on the throne of England, and sees this charter as recording this important step taken by the king towards that goal.
The third son, Philip de Valognes, became the first hereditary chamberlain of Scotland, an office that remained in his family.