 He was High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1781-2 and High Sheriff of Flintshire in 1783.He sought a private prosecution of William Davies Shipley, Dean of St Asaph, for seditious libel, for publishing a leaflet advocating political reforms in 1783, leading to the notorious case of the Dean of St Asaph.His wife succeeded as Countess of Orkney in 1791, and they moved to Cliveden.