Harland was Captain of the ‘Severn’ in 1704, and of the ‘Salisbury Prize’ in 1710. In 1711 he was involved in the capture of a Spanish flagship in the West Indies. In 1714 he commanded the ‘Chatham’ in the Baltic under Sir John Norris, but seems to have retired soon after.

He is shown wearing a blue coat with gold embroidered buttonholes, a grey campaign wig, a white gauntlet on his left hand, in which he holds the pair. He holds a telescope in his right hand. It seem likely that it was painted between 1707–11, since the two-decker flies the flag with the saltire of St Andrew added following the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707. This may therefore represent either the ‘’Salisbury Prize’ or the ‘Chatham’.