 Maltby was active in the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge and he was a senator of the newly formed London University (now University College London), blessing the foundation stone of the Main Building in 1827.When the Whigs returned to power in 1830, prime minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey lacked a comfortable majority in the House of Lords and saw Maltby as a probable supporter if he could be appointed to the Lords Spiritual.Conveniently for Grey, Folliott Cornewall, Bishop of Worcester, died in September 1831.