He was frequently asked if he would honour some of the many amateur astronomical societies that were formed in the latter part of the 19th century, by becoming chairman or president.  He invariably declined, in Manchester for example, where he was asked to be chairman of the Northwest board of the BAA. I can find only one society  where he was an associate member. That was Liverpool, where he joined such notables as Grubb, Schaperelli, Piazzi Smyth, Otto Struve, and the aforementioned Emporer Dom Pedro ll of Brazil.

When in the Wolverhampton area he would stay here. It’s Old Fallings Hall. It was the home of his sister, Amelia Charlotte following her marriage to William Millington MD, a local physician.

Back home, Ball would indulge his hobby for practical farming, and made much of his 14 acres of farmland. He was one of the first in Ireland to experiment with artificial fertilisers on his pastures.

Whilst at Dunsink, he was able to carry out much of his work into stellar parallaxes on his own, as the equipment in the Observatory could be managed single-handedly. It was fortunate that he took heed of an instruction given to him by Ralph Copeland regarding the opening of the dome. It involved an endless rope pulley mechanism over a large metal pin. He was advised not to stand directly under the mechanism in case it fell.  He thought it highly unlikely that it ever would, but for 18 years dutifully stood to one side when pulling on the rope. It always worked without mishap, until almost the very last day he was there, when, whilst pulling on the rope, the pulley/spindle and various other pieces came crashing to the floor. Had he been standing underneath, ..............this story would now be coming to a speedy close.