He served in that capacity and for a time as administrator of the government until 1866 when he returned to England to resume his duties in the Colonial Office.
He remained with the Colonial Office, serving as acting Lieutenant Governor of Penang and Province Wellesley, colonial secretary of Ceylon and Lieutenant Governor of Ceylon, until his retirement from the service in June 1878.
After his resignation from the Colonial Office Birch joined the Bank of England where he remained until retirement in 1913.
Their elder son and heir, Wyndham, was born in 1874, and married the only daughter of John Manners Yorke, 7th Earl of Hardwicke; younger son Arthur adopted his mother's surname and became a Captain in the Coldstream Guards.
[16][17] Mount Birch, in the central Camelsfoot Range near Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada, is named for him.