He joined the Royal Navy in December 1775 and saw action in the fourth-rate HMS Isis during the American Revolutionary War.

[1][2] He also saw action, while serving as first lieutenant in HMS Santa Margarita, a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate, in the capture of Martinique in March 1794 and at the capture of Guadeloupe in April 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars.

[3] Colville became commanding officer of the fourth-rate HMS Romney in October 1804, shortly before it was wrecked by incompetent pilots in November 1804, and then became commanding officer of the third-rate HMS Hercule in March 1807, in which he took part in the Battle of Copenhagen during the Napoleonic Wars.

[3] Promoted to rear admiral on 12 August 1819,[5] Colville became Commander-in-Chief, Cork Station, with his flag in HMS Semiramis, in 1821.

[1][2] Colville succeeded to the peerage as Lord Colville of Culross on 8 March 1811,[8] was elected a Scottish representative peer on 24 July 1818 and participated in ten successive parliaments until his death in October 1849.