He was educated at Foyle College, Derry; Wraxall Hall School, Wiltshire; and, from 1823 to 1825, at Addiscombe Military Seminary, Croydon, Surrey.

The following year he replaced Charles Grenville Mansel on the Board of Administration, the body responsible for governing the Punjab.

Over the next four years, he was the Chief Judge of Appeal in the Punjab, head of the police force, superintendent of roads, controller of local and municipal funds and responsible for education.

On 1 March 1862 he opened the first section of the Punjab Railway, connecting Lahore with Amritsar, to much fanfare.

He died on 28 December 1887 in London of bronchitis, aged 79, and was interred in the family vault in St Columb's Cathedral, Derry, on 3 January 1888.