Aside from his administrative reforms, Halliday was also active in pursuit of social change. While serving as a magistrate in Hooghly district in 1829, he had witnessed the last legal "sati" (ritual burning of a widow) in Bengal, and as lieutenant-governor he sought to enforce the anti-sati legislation that had been enacted soon after. He was also involved in enabling the Widow Remarriage Act to facilitate the remarriage of Hindu widows, that piece of legislation being a consequence of agitation by, among others, his former mentor, Vidyasagar. Indeed, Vidyasagar enjoyed a close relationship to Halliday during the 1850s, and this helped achieve changes in other social policy spheres, such as education. Halliday was an enthusiastic supporter of the despatch on education formulated by Charles Wood in 1854, and as a consequence various measures were implemented. These included the establishment of director of public instruction for the region and the incorporation of the University of Calcutta.