The news eventually caught up with him at Sandy Point (Punta Arenas) in late March and he immediately set sail for Natal via the Falklands.

[3][4] He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 4th (2nd Royal Lancashire Militia) Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) in 1881, and continued in that role until his death.

[5] After the war Sir Thomas continued his world cruise and in 1880 was instrumental in the attempted rescue at sea off the coast of Mexico of a number of citizens of San Francisco.

The two were married on 22 December 1880 at the Ralston Hall Mansion of Belmont, California,[6] Together, they had two sons:[7] When his father-in-law died in 1885, he left one third of his estate to his daughter Florence in a trust administered by her brother Frederick and brother-in-law Francis G. Newlands.

[11] Hesketh Island, Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet, Alaska was named after Sir Thomas following his visit to the area in his yacht Lancashire Witch in 1880.