 Piper was born in Maybole, Ayrshire Scotland, son of Hugh Piper, a doctor; his family came from Cornwall.He was commissioned as an ensign in the New South Wales Corps in 1791, and sailed on the convict ship "Pitt", arriving in Sydney in February 1792.In 1793 he was sent, at his own request, to the convict settlement of Norfolk Island, perhaps because of a scandalous love affair.