 He practised as a barrister on the home circuit and at Surrey sessions.His paternal uncle was John Kenrick, who in 1779 purchased the patronage of the borough of Bletchingley in Surrey from their cousin Sir Robert Clayton.When John died in 1799, Jarvis Kenrick succeeded him in the patronage, and at the 1806 general election returned his son William as MP for Bletchingley.