 A member of the Executive Council, he was Surveyor-General from July 13, 1878 to February 26, 1883.He resigned in 1887 to run for the House of Commons of Canada, but was defeated in the 1887 federal election.He was first elected to the House of Commons for the riding of Northumberland, at the general election held in 1891, and continued to sit until January 1896, when he was called to the Senate of Canada, representing the senatorial division of Northumberland, New Brunswick.