Crowdy served as clerk of the Council and colonial secretary for Cape Breton Island from 1814–20, when it became part of Nova Scotia.
In 1831, with his wife Elizabeth, he came to St. John's as clerk of the Council and colonial secretary for Newfoundland.
In 1836, Crowdy failed to ensure that the great seal was attached to the election writs issued in that year, which led to the invalidation of the results of the election and undermined the authority of representative government in the colony.
Around the same time, he married Caroline Augusta, the daughter of John Dunscombe; his first wife had died in 1836.
[1][2] Crowdy resigned from the Council in 1855 and returned to England, where he died in 1867 at Newton Abbot, Devon.