He was born in 1807 and was a Commissioned Officer in the British Cavalry Horse Guards 1843 before coming to South Australia in 1835 at the age of twenty eight years. He was an intimate friend of Colonel William Light, and was appointed Deputy Surveyor-General and 1847 Commissioner of Police in 1843; Acting Colonial Treasurer and Acting Registrar-General in 1847; and became the first Premier of South Australia in 1856. He was given the title of ‘Honourable’ in 1866.