Rodney was educated at Westminster School and then matriculated at All Souls College, Oxford, which presented him to the living of Elmley, Kent in 1805.
[2][3] Rodney was appointed honorary vicar of Wonastow, Monmouthshire[4] and rector of Luddenham, Kent in 1812.
[5] In 1843, Spencer succeeded his brother Thomas as Baron Rodney and resigned his Fellowship the following year.
He died in 1846 at his house in Harley Street, and was buried at Eye in Herefordshire.
[2] His nephew Robert Dennett Rodney, an Army officer, succeeded him in the barony.