He is remembered mainly because he provided a bequest of £100 to the society in London in 1709, which provided the funding for an annual award, the Copley Medal, the Society's premier award for scientific achievement.
Han huskes primært for at have stillet en testamentering til rådighed for Royal Society i London i 1709, hvilken finansierede en årlig videnskabspris, Copleymedaljen, Society'ets førende pris til videnskabelige bedrifter.