He initially made a career in the colonial administration of the Dutch Caribbean islands, becoming lieutenant governor of Aruba in 1866.

[2] After the Dutch flag was lowered for the last time in Elmina on 6 April 1872, Ferguson was appointed consul general of the Netherlands in China.

He was awarded recognition by the Chinese emperor in the same year as an officer in the Order of the Double Dragon.

[1] Ferguson married Maria Eleanor Waymouth (1844–1891) from Antigua on 22 December 1859 in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten.

After his wife died at the age of 46, he married Maria Margaretha de Jong on 15 September 1899.