Background
He was the only son of Patrick Colquhoun, who became Lord Provost of Glasgow and was a pioneer of modern policing methods.
He was the only son of Patrick Colquhoun, who became Lord Provost of Glasgow and was a pioneer of modern policing methods.
He entered Street John"s College, Cambridge in 1797 but left in 1798. He was private secretary to Henry Dundas in 1806. In 1809, he was Deputy Agent-General for the payment of volunteers organized under the Volunteer Acting 1804 (44 Geo3 c54) for the defence of Britain in the Napoleonic Wars.
Between 1817 and 1855 he was Consul-General in Great Britain for the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, signing commercial treaties on their behalf not just with Britain but with various other countries.
In 1827 he became the consul-general in England representing King Anton of Saxony, and in 1848, he was appointed by Augustus, Grand Duke of Oldenburg to be his chargé d"Affaires in London. At various times he also represented the interests of the legislatures of Saint Vincent and other West Indies islands.
He was elected a fellow of the University of Glasgow, from which he also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.