On 22 May 1858, he married an heiress, Eleanor Blanche Mary Corbett, of Elsham Hall, North Lincolnshire. Eleanor (died 7 June 1897) was the daughter of Thomas George Corbett (died 5 July 1868) and wife (married 15 December 1837) Lady Mary Noel Beauclerk (28 December 1810 – 29 November 1850), daughter of the 8th Duke of St Albans. He thereafter devoted himself to sports including horse racing, boxing and pedestrianism.[citation needed] He was a popular figure at horse race meetings, known familiarly as "the Mate", and for winning and losing large sums of money.[1] Two famous jockeys that rode regularly for him were George Fordham and Charlie Wood.[2]
Just before his death in October 1894, he published entertaining reminiscences under the title of Fifty Years of My Life.[1] This contains the first recorded appearance of the phrase "like a duck to water" – I always took to shooting like a duck to water.