Soldier, politician and landowner. Born at Raith House (by Kirkcaldy, Fife), the younger brother of the infamous Robert Ferguson of Raith (1767 - 1840). He joined the army in 1790 as an Ensign in the 53rd Regiment of Foot. He commanded a unit at the taking of the Cape of Good Hope (1795) and led the Highland Brigade at its recapture in 1806. He was also a commander at Cadiz (1810), during the Peninsular War, and in Holland (1814).
Ferguson became a member of the Royal Company of Archers in 1802, and along with his brother features in the Raeburn portrait The Archers, held by the National Gallery in London.
He had married Jean, the daughter of General Sir Hector Munro (1726 - 1805), a union which was to bring the estate of Novar (Easter Ross) into the Ferguson family. Meantime, Ferguson inherited his own family estate of Raith on the death of his brother in 1840.
He served as Whig Member of Parliament for the Dysart Burghs (1806-30) and then for Nottingham until his death. Ferguson is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery (London).
