While in these parishes in Western Ireland, Adamson learned to enjoy angling, especially salmon fishing, an interest that would shape his life in Canada.
In 1838, he became a rector of Kilcooly parish, counties Kilkenny and Tipperary, and chaplain to the Marquess of Normanby, then Whig Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
[2] With the help of Normanby's influence in the Whig ministry, Adamson obtained the incumbency of Amherst Island, Upper Canada,[1] and became the personal chaplain to Lord Sydenham,[3]: 123 and tended to him until his death in 1841.
As an avid fisherman, Adamson wrote on the subject in his 1860 book Salmon-fishing in Canada, edited by Sir James Edward Alexander.
The British Literary Gazette described Adamson as someone who "is evidently, as all anglers should be, a true lover of nature, and some of his descriptions of Canadian scenery are given with considerable effect".