Small came to Malaya as a cadet in January 1911[8] and was appointed Acting Assistant Secretary to British Resident of Selangor.
[3] In December 1935, he was given the post of Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements to succeed Andrew Caldecott whom was to be the new Governor of Hong Kong.
[11] In 1940, Small retired and handed over the position of Colonial Secretary of Straits Settlements to Mr. Stanley Wilson Jones.
[6] He served as honorary director of the West Australian division of the Red Cross Society of the Bureau for Wounded, Missing and Prisoners of War and was also a vice-president of the Malayan and Far Eastern Association of Western Australia.
[5][16][17] Small was educated in Dalziel High School and Glasgow University where he graduated in law and took the degrees of BSc and M.A.