Career
He was appointed as Judge of the courts of the Ṣadr Dīwānī ʿAdālat and Ṣadr Nizāmat ʿAdālat at the Bengal Presidency in 1804. In 1822, he became District Magistrate in Chittagong. From March 1825 to August 1825 he served as Agent to the Governor General in Arakan.
From 1825 to 1826 he was British Political Officer of Arakan in Burma.
In 1826 he was Civil Commissioner in Pegu and Ava when Treaty of Yandaboo was signed on 24 February 1826. Married to Amelia Jane Elliot (11 October 1810 – 19 June 1837) in 1830.
She died on 19 June 1837. In 1832 he was the Agent to the Governor General on the North East Frontier Agency.
On 4 February 1840 he was posted as Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces where he served for eleven months till 31 December 1842.
He was also District Magistrate of Kanpur. He was provisionally Governor-General for some time. In his book Civility and Empire (2002), Professor Anindyo Roy of Colby College describes him as an arch-colonist and quotes him as saying, "the natives of India are better servants than subjects.
And it is in former capacity alone that we can ever expect to command their co-operation in any emergency.".
