After obtaining a pass degree from Christ Church, Oxford in
1835, Adderley spent the next five years developing estates inherited from a great uncle
in which he instituted a series of planning and educational reforms. On Peel's urging, he entered the House of Commons as a tory in
1841 and held his seat through eight elections. In
1849 he participated in the Church of England colony of Canterbury in
New Zealand and, with
E. G. Wakefield and
E. Bulwer-Lytton, formed the Colonial Reform Society which encouraged greater independence in the
settler colonies and reduction of imperial financial support. As a Conservative he advanced a series of education reform bills. In
1866 Adderley became parliamentary undersecretary of state for the colonies, for which
one of his main tasks was to manoeuvre the British North America Bill through the
Commons. Part of his argument to forestall British amendments, that
… federation has in this case specially been a matter of most delicate treaty and
compact between the provinces,
became one of legal bases in the ongoing debate concerning the nature of Confederation. Raised to the peerage in
1878, he continued to make speeches in the Lords and write letters to the
Times on educational and colonial affairs.