In 1815 his banking business ran into difficulties and was dissolved. He moved for a brief period to Perthshire, resolving never to return to Edinburgh. He then moved to London in 1817 and the following year was appointed as lecturer in oriental languages for the East India Company, a position he held until 1825. However, after this employment ceased, he controversially continued to give lectures without payment, as a vehicle to promote the sale of his works as textbooks. With a similar view, he assisted in the foundation of the London Oriental Institution and became a founding shareholder of University College London, serving as its first Professor of Hindustani. He also worked with George Birkbeck to establish the London Mechanics Institution (later Birkbeck College).