[1][2] He acted as an agent for the Governor-General, Sir Henry Hardinge, during the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845-6 and was rewarded with a baronetcy in 1847 for his assistance in negotiating the Treaties of Lahore and Bhyrowal.

[8][9] He was appointed Foreign Secretary to the Government of India in 1844 and in that post negotiated the 1846 treaties of Lahore, Amritsar and Bhyroval with the Sikhs at the end of the First Anglo-Sikh War.

[11] As foreign secretary, Currie fell in with the designs of Ellenborough and Hardinge and supported the actions against the Sikhs in 1845 of the British Representative to the Punjab, Major George Broadfoot.

[7] The resultant provocative acts on both sides led to military escalation and on 13 December 1845 Hardinge issued a proclamation declaring war on the Sikhs.

Gough, paying tribute to their gallantry, wrote to Sir Robert Peel, the British Prime Minister, "...I could have wept to have witnessed the fearful slaughter of so devoted a body of men".

[11] Hardinge entered the Sikh capital Lahore on 20 February and Currie, assisted on military matters by Brevet-Major Henry Lawrence, arranged the terms of surrender.

On 16 March, this separate agreement was signed by Currie and Lawrence, forming the Treaty of Amritsar, in which Kashmir was sold by the British Government to Gulab Singh for 7,500,000 rupees (75 lakhs Nanak Shahi).

At the request of the Durbar the Treaty had specified that the British were to retain a force in Lahore until no longer than the end of the year "for the purpose of protecting the person of the Maharaja and the inhabitants of the City during the reorganisation of the Sikh army".

The Maharani was awarded a pension of 150,000 rupees and replaced by Lawrence as Resident, who "shall have full authority to direct and control all matters in every Department of the State".

Henry Lawrence was granted sick leave in 1848 and travelled back to England with Hardinge, who had come to the end of his term of office as Governor-General.

In the British camp, John Lawrence, who had been expected to receive the Resident appointment during his brother's leave of absence, was critical of Currie, pointing out that the latter lacked military knowledge and experience of the feuds and alliances of the numerous Sikh, Muslim and Hindu factions.

When the Diwan Mul Raj Multanwala, governor of the Sikh province of Multan, was faced with an increase in the levy imposed by the British, he resigned his office.

To replace him, Currie appointed the Sikh Sardar Kahn Singh Man, who arrived at Multan on 18 April with two British officers, Mr Vans Agnew and Lieutenant William Anderson.

However the following day a Mazhabi boy was shot by one of Kahn Singh's men and an angry mob from the city sought out and killed the British officers.

Kahn Singh was taken prisoner and led before Mul Raj, who presented him with Vans Agnew's head and told him to take it back to Currie.

Gough, in his summer headquarters in the hill station at Simla, considered that military activity during the hot and monsoon seasons (May to September) was inadvisable.

Currie ordered an investigation by Captain John Nicholson, whose report excused the defensive measures the Governor had taken to protect the capital, but drew attention to Chatar Singh's numerous previous actions, which had given rise to and justified Abbott's assessment.

This angered his son, Raja Sher Singh Atarivala, who was fighting on the British side with Edwardes against Diwan Mul Raj.

[19] Currie ordered a force from the East India Company's Bengal Army, under General Whish, to join Edwardes and the contingents from Van Cortland, Bhawalpa and Sher Singh in the Siege of Multan.

The fortified city of Multan with its fortress citadel was considered to be the strongest in the Punjab and General Whish decided that the siege must be abandoned until the arrival of reinforcements from Bengal, so he withdrew to a position which commanded the principal roads to Bahawalpur and the Derajat.

However, despite his protests and strong opposition from Henry Lawrence, who by that time had returned from leave, Dalhousie had annulled the Lahore Government, exiled Duleep Singh and confiscated the Koh-i-Noor diamond, the symbol of his power.

A letter, dated 23 June 1858, from Currie and his Vice-Chairman to Lord Stanley, President of the Board of Control, expressed reservations regarding several of the clauses of a Bill before Parliament for the better Government of India.

After Susannah's death in 1832 he married Lucy Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Merttins Bird of the Bengal Civil Service, on 3 September 1834.

They had seven children: Fendall, who played first-class cricket for the Gentlemen of Kent and became a Major-General, Harriet Sophia, Susan Mary, Katherine Louisa, Mabel Thornton, Hugh Penton and Rivers Grenfell.

The 1861 and 1871 British Census returns show him living at the Manor House, May Place, Crayford, Kent, England with his third wife Katharine Maria and the first six of his seven children by that marriage.