He matriculated at St John's College, Oxford in 1674 aged 15, and was a law student at Gray's Inn in 1679.
[1] He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Radnorshire in March 1679, October 1679, 1681, and 1689, for Breconshire in 1690, 1698, February 1702 and December 1701, and for Bere Alston in 1695.
He was a lifelong Whig, a firm opponent of the religious policies of James II, and a strong supporter of the Glorious Revolution, which put an end to his five-year exile in the Netherlands.
He was Treasurer of the Chamber, a minor Court office, 1689–93, and in good standing with William III of Orange.
[1] He was heavily in debt on leaving parliament, having wasted his own inheritance and his wife's fortune: "he spent it all in a few years, eating and rioting".