On his return to England he was, successively, curate at Yarconme, Upton-on-Severn, Chetnole and Woolland.

After service as the vicar of Stapleford and then Bridgrule he retired to Bournemouth in 1885 on the grounds of ill health and it was then that he engaged fully in his lifelong interest in botany becoming the foremost expert in brambles such as blackberries etc;

A keen botanist, he studied the genus Rubus ( known as blackberry) and wrote a landmark publication ‘Handbook of British Rubi’ (1900) on the genus.  Rubus rogersii E.F. Linton was named in his honour.

After his death, Rogers’ collection of specimens was presented to the British  Museum.