He was an accomplished scholar, not only in theology, but also in archæology, and he was an active member of the Chetham Holbein and Manx societies. For the first he edited "Abbott's Journal" and "The Tryalls at Manchester in 1694" (1864); for the Manx Society, "Chronica Regum Manniæ et Insularum", to which he made valuable additions. An account of Harkirke burial-ground for recusants, and an introduction written by him were published by the Chetham Society in Crosby Records (M.S., 12, 1887).