He returned to Britain with his mother in 1841, and was then educated by a private tutor at Edinburgh Academy, and then, between 1849 and 1853, at Cheltenham College with his brother Frank.
He then became, in January 1858, a third assistant political agent in Kathiawar, before in June, nearly dying of Gujarat fever, which permanently impaired his health.
[2][3] During this period, Wyllie translated Colonel Lang's Mulk Sherista into English and also served as an assistant commissioner in Barabanki district and Lucknow.
[2][3] Wyllie did no re-stand in the resulting by-election, lamenting that "he had foresaken the Indian service for a career that now sunk under him; he had burned his ships and could not return".
[2] Wyllie continued to write after his failed election, including Masterly inactivity, published by The Fortnightly Review in December 1869, defending Lawrence's non-interventionist policy towards Afghanistan and opposing occupation of Quetta, Pakistan; and Mischievous activity, published also The Fortnightly Review in March 1870, criticising Lord Mayo's more interventionist external policy.