[2] In 1851 he converted to Catholicism, and resigned his seat in Parliament through appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead on 5 May 1851, "out of a delicate instinct of honour towards those who had elected him while he was a member of the Anglican Church — believing that he had no right to suppose them to be indifferent to the change he had made.

[1] During the invasion scare of 1859–60 he raised the 2nd (Newport) Isle of Wight Rifle Volunteer Corps and commanded it with the rank of captain, dated 27 August 1860.

Shortly afterwards the 2nd RVC was included in the 1st Administrative Battalion, Isle of Wight Rifle Volunteers, and he was promoted to major to serve as its second-in-command.

[4][5] His last political act, on 8 April 1870, was to speak in Parliament against a measure proposed by Charles Newdigate Newdegate for the state inspection of convents, despite being seriously ill at the time.

Bursting a blood-vessel in his throat, he set off on a journey to Switzerland to recover his health but died en route while in Freiburg, aged 55.