The news of the death of Scott and his returning polar party reached Markham in February 1913, while he was staying in Estoril. He returned to England, and assisted with the preparation of Scott's journals for publication. Scott's death was a heavy blow, but Markham continued to lead a busy life of writing and travelling. In 1915, he was present at the service in St Peter's Church, Binton, near Stratford-upon-Avon, where a window was dedicated to Scott and his companions; later that year he assisted at the unveiling of the Royal Navy's statue of Scott, in Waterloo Place, London. Markham read his last paper for the RGS on 10 June 1915, its title being "The History of the Gradual Development of the Groundwork of Geographical Science".