While on leave, Mottershead married Elizabeth Atkinson at St Mary Magdalen Church, Ashton-on-Mersey, in 1916.
In October 1916, at the Battle of the Somme, Mottershead suffered a bullet wound to his neck, injuring his spine.
Contrary to the expected medical prognosis he eventually recovered the ability to walk (with a limp) after three years in a wheelchair.
With his parents and young family, Mottershead moved to Shavington in the 1920s, and operated a successful market garden and florist, later selling pet birds.
They acquired two Himalayan black bears from a wildlife park in Matlock, and added monkeys, chimpanzees, birds, and reptiles.
[2] He was also awarded an honorary degree of Master of Science, and served as president of the International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens (now the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums).