He was a founder member of the Iron and Steel Institute and served as its president in 1887. He was awarded the institute's Bessemer Gold Medal in 1888 for his work on the properties of iron and steel and the use of steel for steam boilers and other purposes. He was also a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Cleveland Institution of Engineers, the British Iron Trades Association, the Railway and Canal Traders' Association, the Geological Society of London, the Society of Arts, the Manchester Geographical Society, the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, the Manchester Geological Society and others.