He was the son of Roger FitzGerold (de Roumare), 1st Baron of Kendal, Lord of Bolingbroke and Lucy, widow of Ivo de Taillebois (possible granddaughter of the Earl of Mercia and Ælfgifu Princess of England, daughter of King Ethelred II of England). He followed his father as Lord of Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire.
He was half-brother to Ranulf of Chester. In Normandy, he was Seigneur (Lord) of Roumare. He was created Earl of Lincoln by King Stephen after 1143.
The Earl lived at both Bolingbroke and Lincoln Castle.
He was the ducal constable of the fortress of Neufmarche, stoutly resisting Hugh de Gournay, then in rebellion there, in 1118 in Normandy.
