Saunders initially worked in the Custom's office in Liverpool in February 1823, before taking on the role of warehouse keeper, in Halifax, Nova Scotia in September 1825.
[1] In August 1836 he travelled to British Ceylon to take on the role of controller of customs.
[5][6] On 5 May 1861 Saunders was officially appointed as the Treasurer of Ceylon, deputy paymaster general to the Queen's Troops and Commissioner of Stamps,[7][8][9] and served on the Executive Council of Ceylon, led by Governor Charles Justin MacCarthy, and the subsequent Executive Council led by Governor Hercules Robinson, until he resigned from the position in August 1865.
[10] They had two children Elizabeth Mary (1837-1914) and Sir Frederick Richard KCMG (1838–1910), who also served as Treasurer of Ceylon and Commissioner of Stamps (1890–1897).
[11] Saunders died on 29 September 1870 in Guildford, Surrey, England, at the age of 66.