Cornelia commissioned in November 1808, under the command of Captain Henry Folkes Edgell. He sailed her for the East Indies on 30 December.
In 1810 was deployed to the squadron at the Cape of Good Hope. In the autumn, she joined the invasion fleet under Admiral Albemarle Bertie that executed the successful Invasion of Ile de France in November 1810.
On 13 May 1810 Cornelia was in company with Sir Francis Drake and when they captured some slaves at Diego Garcia.
In August or September 1811 Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen replaced Edgell. Owen commanded Cornelia during the invasion of the Dutch East Indies in 1811, and the capture of Java that year. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the NGSM with clasp "Java" to all surviving claimants from the campaign.
In 1813, Cornelia returned to England as escort to a convoy from China.
Cornelia was paid off at Woolwich in 1813 placed in ordinary. She was broken up at Sheerness in June 1814.