[2] McCoskry got on bad terms with Benjamin Campbell, who arrived on 21 July 1853 to take up the position of Consul.
[5] In March 1856, McCoskry was acting for Consul Campbell, who was away from the colony on a visit to the Benin River, when a plot was discovered to overturn the Oba of Lagos, Dosunmu.
[7] In July 1861, McCoskry signed treaties with Porto Novo and Badagry to facilitate trade with Lagos.
Dosunmu transferred sovereignty of the island and territories of Lagos to the British in return for an annual pension.
McCloskey recognized the rights of slave owners to retain their property or to receive compensation for liberation.
[13] McCloskry, and other merchants in the colony, were opposed to the activities of missionaries which they felt interfered with trade.
McCloskry communicated his view to the explorer Richard Francis Burton, who visited Lagos and Abeokuta in 1861 while acting as consul at Fernando Poo.