After the death of Robins, Call became engineer-in-chief, and eventually chief engineer with a seat on the Governor's Council.

Robert Clive strongly recommended Call for the Governorship of Madras, but he had to return to England on the death of his father on 31 December 1766.

[2] On his return, he became High Sheriff of Cornwall for 1771–72 and was elected MP for Callington in 1784, a seat he held until his death.

[6] He also built the reproduction Civil War fort on the summit of Kit Hill and was responsible for the construction of Bodmin Gaol in 1779.

[8] He became blind seven years before he died, of apoplexy, at his home in Old Burlington Street, London, and was buried at St Margaret's old churchyard, Lee, Kent (now in the borough of Lewisham), where there is a grade II* listed monument to his memory.