Roads in 1809, and on the same sloop in the Walcheren expedition later in the year. He served in the in the invasion of Java in 1811. He was promoted to commander on 15 June 1814. A lengthy period of inaction on half-pay followed, but from March 1830 to December 1831 he commanded the , and was promoted to captain on 3 September 1831. William Light captained the paddle steamer the Nile from London to Alexandria to join the Egyptian Navy in 1834, reaching Alexandria in September. Hindmarsh, who had prepared the steamer for delivery at Blackwall Yard on the River Thames, travelled as a passenger on the ship on its journey to Alexandria, and was made captain of the ship by November. He received his commission as governor and commander-in-chief of the province of South Australia on 14 July 1836. On 11 July 1836 Hindmarsh sailed for South Australia on HMS Buffalo as its first governor after winning influential support and applying to the Colonial Office. Naval General Service Medal When the Naval General Service Medal, designed by William Wyon, was introduced in 1847, it was discovered that only two people were entitled to the medal with seven clasps (one clasp for each battle the recipient took part in): Sir John Hindmarsh and Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Alexander Gordon. The seven clasps on Hindmarsh's medal were for Java, Basque Roads 1809, Trafalgar, Gut of Gibraltar 12 July 1801 (the Second Battle of Algeciras), Nile, 17 June 1795 (known as Cornwallis's Retreat) and 1 June 1794 (the "Glorious First of June"). He was listed to be awarded a good service pension of £150 under the 1850-51 Navy Estimates. He was promoted to rear admiral on the retired list in 1856. First Governor of South Australia "Bluff Jack Hindmarsh", as he came to be known, arrived in Holdfast Bay on 28 December 1836, in the Buffalo. Prior to this, earlier arrivals included the Survey Brig , (carrying Colonel William Light's surveyors), , and . Initially they landed on Kangaroo Island, and sent out the team of surveyors led by Light to find a suitable place for the capital city of the new colony. Hindmarsh wanted it at Port Lincoln, instead of at the present site which had been selected by Light. Light eventually chose the site of Adelaide, and stationed the Cygnet at Port Lincoln to notify Hindmarsh that