Apart from his political career Lord Bathurst is also known for his association with the poets and scholars of the time. Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Prior, Sterne, and Congreve were among his friends. His name is listed as a founding governor on the royal charter of the Foundling Hospital, granted by King George II in 1739. He is described in Sterne's "Letters to Eliza"; was the subject of a graceful reference on the part of Burke speaking in the House of Commons; and the letters which passed between him and Pope are published in "Pope's Works", vol. viii. (London, 1872).