In 1818, he was promoted to lieutenant and appointed as an adjutant of the 20th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, Penang's acting town-major and military secretary to Governor Bannerman.
[3] Later he worked as an agent of the East India Company, collecting material about Burma and Siam, which he made available to England, while participating in the First Anglo–Burmese War (1823–1826).
After his 1825 appointment as political emissary to Siam[3] he met King Rama III there the following year, concluding the Burney Treaty and a commercial contract to stimulate development of regional trade between Siam and Europe.
[5][page needed] Henry Burney married Janet Bannerman (1799–1865),[3] the niece of the governor John Alexander Bannerman of Penang,[3] at George Town (Penang, Malaya) in 1818.
[6] Henry Burney died at sea in 1845 while on his way from Rangoon on sick leave.