[2] In 1212 Raley was presented by the King to the church living at Bratton Fleming, in the archdeaconry of Barnstaple, wherein his occupation was described as "clerk", when he studied law.
From 1225 to 1229 he was the personal clerk of Martin of Pattishall, with whom he travelled the Eyre in Cumberland and Northumberland between 1226 and 1227, where he acted as a commissioner for the assessment of Tallage.
He became justice of the bench in 1229 following Pattishall's retirement,[citation needed] with Roger of Thirkleby being appointed as his clerk in 1231.
[citation needed] Raley was a trusted royal councillor as well as a judge, and between 1236 and 1239 was one of the King's chief advisors, being responsible for part of the Statute of Merton in 1236, as well as other legal reforms.
[7] Raley retired to Tours, France where he died shortly before 1 September 1250, the date he was buried in the Church of St Martin.