Around May 1854, Halliday was appointed as the first Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. He took up residence at Belvedere House, the former home of Warren Hastings in Calcutta. Prior to that time the region had been overseen by the governor-general, and by a deputy-governor when the former was away. The deputies were appointed more on the basis of seniority than of merit. It had been recognised for some time that continued territorial acquisitions, which involved disparate populations and regions, both necessitated different administrative approaches and were causing the governor-general to be more frequently away from the area. The Marquess of Dalhousie, who was governor-general between 1847 and 1856, took the opportunity presented by the renewal of the East India Company's charter to reorganise affairs. It was anticipated that the appointment of Halliday would result in significant improvements to the administration of Bengal, and this proved to be the case because he had gained considerable administrative experience by this time.