He listed his recreations in "Who's Who" as yachting and deerstalking and was a member of the Carlton Club, St Stephen's Club, the Conservative Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron. He was also President of the Egyptian Exploration Fund. In 1885 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George as thanks from the government for allowing the use of maps of the Upper Nile valley he had had made when working on the Khedive's projects. They were the most accurate survey of the area and were used in the British Relief of Khartoum.