His father was a merchant and member of the Hudson"s Bay Company"s Board of Governors. After graduating from Cambridge in 1841, he travelled overseas to Lower Canada to manage the seigneury of Beauharnois for the North American Colonial Association of Ireland, of which his father was deputy governor.
Colvile was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.
He served one year in the Legislative Assembly for Beauharnois in 1844. His relationship with the Hudson"s Bay Company began in 1848 when he accompanied George Simpson to Rupert"s Land, travelling as far as the Red River Colony. After his return to England, he was soon appointed Governor of Rupert"s Land, relieving Simpson of his obligations inland.
He spent his first winter on the Pacific coast, sorting out the affairs of the troubled Pugets Sound Agricultural Company.
They took up residence in the "Big House" at Lower Fort Garry. He quickly took charge of the affairs at the Red River Colony.
Solving the difficulties which arose from the Foss-Pelly slander trial took more delicate maneuvering, but he succeeded by removing the major players in the trial from the Settlement. He took on many of his father"s directorships which included the chairmanship of the board of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company.
He joined the London committee of the HBC in 1854.
After a reorganization of the HBC in the mid-1860s where he was only one of two to remain, he became deputy governor in 1871, governor in 1880 and retired in 1889. He died in Lustleigh, Devon, on Easter Sunday 1893.
