In the mid-1850s, he helped found the Yorkshire Penny Bank (to encourage workers to save), and he worked closely with the Halifax Permanent Building Society (later the Halifax Building Society) to promote home ownership through his model village Akroydon.
His manuscripts were after his death purchased by Edward Akroyd of Halifax, and presented by him to York Cathedral Library.
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A ceremony was then held which included the town's MP Sir James Stansfeld, Lord Frederick Cavendish, Colonel Akroyd, the mayors of Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield, the Master Cutler of Sheffield, the Town Clerk of Leeds and the bridge engineers.