He saw active service in Persia (1856–1857), attached to the 14th The King's Light Dragoons, and in the latter stages of the Indian Mutiny, where he served as adjutant of the left wing of his regiment.

He remained in the Indian Army, but served as Political Agent at successively Jaipur, Baghelkhand, Bharatpur and Mewar.

In 1874, he was made general superintendent of the Thuggee and Dacoity Department, which effectively acted as the Viceroy's secret police.

In March 1878, he was appointed governor-general's agent for Rajputana and chief commissioner of Ajmer, in charge of relations with the Rajput princes, by whom he was respected and admired, not least because he had survived an encounter with a tiger.

He was made an Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria (holding the post until 1893), and was offered the governorship of Cape Colony, but refused it.

His immediate concern was to restore stability after the Black Monday and Bloody Sunday riots and the resignation of three Commissioners in the past two years.

His years in control of the Met were generally peaceful and stable, with the police's standing in public opinion rising steadily.

He varied the beats to ease the tedium of patrol duty and attempted to improve the educational standard of new recruits.

His second son, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Evelyn Ridley Bradford (1869–1914) of the Seaforth Highlanders, succeeded to the baronetcy and was killed in action in France on 14 September 1914.