While in England he married Mercy Haine on August 14, 1833, and they returned to Prince Edward Island before the end of that year.

As a member of the provincial government in 1846, he spent 31 days in the custody of the sergeant-at-arms for refusing to retract a statement made in the assembly.

The former provided better educational opportunities than in any of the other colonies and the latter was a positive step toward a solution to the land ownership question.

He and Edward Whelan had laid the foundations of the Liberal party and in doing so created the political balances which dominated Prince Edward Island politics during the middle years of the nineteenth century.

Despite being an early supporter of union he turned against Confederation when it became apparent that the project would not solve the land tenure question.