Findlay first arrived in Africa in 1819, and was appointed to succeed Alexander Grant as Commandant of St Mary's Island in August 1826, as the latter retired due to poor health.
However, he was quickly promoted to Lieutenant Governor of Sierra Leone and so left the Gambia in April 1830.
He served in Sierra Leone until April 1833, when he was recalled following his controversial imprisonment of Hamilton Edmund MacCormac.
In 1838, Findlay wrote to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, applying for the vacant role of Lieutenant Governor in the Gambia, but the application was rejected.
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