Rolfe sat as Whig MP for Penryn & Falmouth 1832-40. He served as Solicitor General under Lord Melbourne and twice as Lord Chancellor. Appointed by Lord Aberdeen his services were retained by Lord Palmerston in his first administration. Lord Cranworth was not re-appointed when Palmerston returned to power but he did return to office in the wake of Lord Westbury’s resignation in 1865 and continued until the fall of Lord Russell’s government the following year.