He was noted for his long service in both the Territorial Army and politics, which included 60 years in the House of Lords, and for his contributions to the growth of the seaside resort of Skegness, Lincolnshire.

In 1883, he left the service to assist his ailing father in the managing of their estates at Sandbeck Park in South Yorkshire and Lumley Castle in County Durham.

[1] He was a member of the council of the Royal Niger Company and during this time visited Africa with Sir George Goldie to make treaties with tribal chiefs.

[4] In early February 1900 he was appointed second in command of a Battalion of Imperial Yeomanry, with the temporary rank of Major in the Army,[5] and served with it in the Second Boer War.

[6] After his return to the United Kingdom, he was appointed an aide-de-camp to King Edward VII in the 1902 Coronation Honours list on 26 June 1902,[7] with the regular rank of colonel.

[4] Scarbrough was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) shortly before his retirement from the Territorial Force in 1921 for his military service.

For three decades, he helped spur the town's growth with his plans, included constructing a large pier, a church, tree-lined promenades, parks, gardens, houses and hotels.

[1][11] Their elder daughter Ursula James married David Allan Bethell, 5th Baron Westbury (1922–2001) in 1947; the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester attended their wedding at St Martin-in-the-Fields.