 In 1897 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.His proposers were William Peddie, George Chrystal, Robert Boog Watson and Sir James Ormiston Affleck.At this time he lived at 4 Wardie Avenue in northern Edinburgh and appears to have been a partner in a firm named Lorrain & Purves, engineers and patent agents, of 53 York Place in the town centre.