[6] Elected to Parliament in 1865, João de Andrade Corvo joined the Portuguese government in 1866 as Minister of Public Works.

[8] In June 1875, Andrade Corvo was representing Portugal in an agreement with the Earl of Lytton to not cede or sell the territories on the coast of Southeast Africa granted by President of the French Republic Adolphe Thiers.

On 11 December Andrade Corvo signed the treaty as plenipotentiary alongside President Thomas François Burgers of the South African Republic.

[10] The Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Netherlands Lion was awarded to João de Andrade Corvo on 24 August 1875.

[11] In 1876, Andrade Corvo and American diplomat Benjamin Moran consulted on the Portuguese Emancipation Act of April 1875, intended to abolish slavery in all ultramarine provinces.

[12] Andrade Corvo's role as Minister of the Navy and Overseas in Lisbon was taken over by José Eduardo de Melo Gouveia in 1877.

[15] The Foreign Minister welcomed the Fourth Viceroy of India, João de Castro, in 1882 and prepared an itinerary from Lisbon to Goa.