 On 25 January 1972 he was the guest of honour at a dinner to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Pilgrims Society at which were read a message from Queen Elizabeth II and a personal letter to Brittain from the United States President, Richard Milhous Nixon.In 1909 he organised the First Imperial Press Conference.After the conference, he founded the Empire Press Union (later the Commonwealth Press Union) and lived to see his concept grow into an organisation which included in its membership over 1,500 newspapers and news agencies throughout the Commonwealth.