“ In 1890 he settled in Berkshire, and his life soon became a very busy and useful one, starting with work at the Bradfield Board of Guardians and Rural District Council, of which he was chairman respectively for 13 and 25 years. Always interested in social problems and the welfare of the poor—perhaps inherited to some extent from his maternal grandfather, Sir George Nicholls, one of the three original Poor Law Commissioners—he became more and more identified with the work of the county. ”

“ Outside Berkshire he had a lifelong connexion with the Birmingham Canal Navigations, following his father and his grandfather having been a member of the committee of management (a position now held by his son) for 63 years and vice-chairman for 32 years. A member of the Alpine Club, and vice-president at one time, he climbed in Switzerland in his early years, and illustrated the Badminton Library Book on "Mountaineering." But his taste was more for walking, in Switzerland, and the English Lakes, or North Wales, with his pocket sketch books. ”

“ He was early drawn to work with the Charity Organization Society, inspires by Sir Charles Loch, a close personal friend; and he studied at the Slade School of Art, later becoming a member of the Royal Water Colour Society. ”