 He was employed by Richard of Dover, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on various ecclesiastical missions in Wales, wherein he distinguished himself for his efforts to remove supposed abuses of consanguinity and tax laws flourishing in the Welsh church at the time.He was appointed in 1174 as Archdeacon of Brecon, to which was attached a residence at Llanddew.He obtained this position by reporting the existence of the previous archdeacon's mistress; the man was promptly sacked.