A quarrelsome individual, he fell out with the Wesleyan authorities in 1835 and applied for a position as an assistant surveyor in the proposed new colony of South Australia.
He travelled to South Australia in February 1836 in the Duke of York (the first of the Company ships, followed by the Lady Mary Pelham, and the John Pirie) with 8 fellow-colonists and 29 labourers, and on 27 July 1836 was the first of the adult colonists to embark on Kangaroo Island, the intended site of the first settlement.
[7] Suspended after he allegedly attempted to kill a sailor from a rival whaling firm at Encounter Bay, these charges were eventually dismissed due to lack of evidence.
[2] He was heavily criticised for the purchase, contrary to instructions, of 60 acres of town land for the South Australian Company, although many later came to applaud his action.
In January 1840 he joined a small party of four horsemen which included John Morphett to inspect the proposed Wellington Special Survey on the River Murray on behalf of the London-based Secondary Towns Association.