King George III held faith with Bathurst as the Speaker for the House of Lords. A former treasury commissioner he had the sinecure of a tellership of the Exchequer. It entailed some duties but the job was worth £1,200 per annum. More importantly for the succession to the estates he was able to secure a tellership for his son by 1790. He continued to plant a new garden into his retirement. Then in 1788 a sick King George decided he would take the waters at Cheltenham with Queen Charlotte. En route the royal family stopped during July at Cirencester Park. Lord Bathurst developed the Sapperton tunnel the following year for a new canal dug to connect the Severn with the Thames. During the reign hundreds of local acts of Parliament authorised construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, and infrastructures.