*1876 Fellow of the Royal Society 
*1878 Received first Progress Medal of the Photographic Society of Great Britain ever
*1885 Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
*1892 to 1894, 1896 and 1903 to 1905 President of the Photographic Society of Great Britain aka Royal Photographic Society  
*1893 to 1895 President of the Royal Astronomical Society
*1895 to 1897 President of the Physical Society of London 
* CB : Companion of the Order of the Bath
* KCB: Knight Commander (civil division) of the Order of the Bath (KCB) - announced in the 1900 New Year Honours honours list on 1 January 1900, gazetted on 16 January 1900, and invested by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on 1 March 1900.
* Doctor of Science (D.Sc. Honoris causa) from the University of Dublin - June 1902.
*1909 to 1920 Vice-President of Girls' Public Day School Trust