In 1829 he settled in Liverpool acting editor of the Liverpool Times newspaper; having acquired the paper as the Billinge's Advertiser; the paper closed in 1858 due to competition from cheap dailys.
His last work, Yorkshire Past and Present, was published in 1871; Two minor books of his were Agricultural Resources of Great Britain and the Colonies, and Observations on the River Plate.
His county histories are characterised by fullness of details, clearness of statement, and orderly arrangement.
On 31 October 1881, he died at Seaforth Hall, near Liverpool, the residence of his son-in-law Edmund Knowles Muspratt.
Two of his daughters married prominent Liverpool figures: Media related to Thomas Baines (journalist) at Wikimedia Commons