He was born in
Chester in 1711 or 1712 the son of Edward Roberts the city registrar, and his wife, Elizabeth. He was educated at
Westminster School from 1723 then studied medicine at
Christ Church, Oxford from 1728. He quit Oxford without graduating around 1730 to begin tutoring the children of
Henry Pelham MP. The two men became friends and Pelham then employed him as his Private Secretary a role which Roberts continued during Pelham's career as
Prime Minister of Great Britain (1743–1754). Pelham introduced him to various other political roles, many of which overlapped, allowing him multiple salaries. These included: Deputy Paymaster of
Gibraltar 1743 to 1761; Inspector of the Out Ports (Exports) in the London Custom House 1746 to 1762; Receiver of Quit Rents in
Virginia 1748 until death; a pension from the Irish Establishment of £800 per annum from 1754 until death; working at the Department of Trade 1761/2 and 1765–1772.From 1754 to 1756 he was paymaster to the British Secret Service (at that time mainly spying on France) under Pelham's nephew Pelham-Holles as Prime Minister. He served as MP to
Harwich from 1761 to 1771. During this period, in October 1765 he became involved in the debates on the troubles in the American colonies and the Stamp Tax riots, and encouraged that the worst rioters should be made example of (i.e. hung). He owned property in Harwich,
Esher, Orford and London and died in London on 13 July 1772. In 1776 a monument was erected to his memory in
Poets Corner in
Westminster Abbey the highest accolade for a British poet. The memorial lies above that of
Geoffrey Chaucer and was sculpted by
Richard Hayward. == Family ==