After he received his inheritance upon his father's death, he originally planned to run a ranch in the American West, but after spending time hunting in Devonshire with his brother, Mortimer Singer, he decided to stay in England and become a racehorse owner.[1]
Singer was joint-master of the South Devon Hunt between 1897 and 1901, and then sole master until 1907.[2]
He became a benefactor of a number of causes and was a substantial donor to the University College of the Southwest of England, which later became the University of Exeter. One of the university's buildings, which is home to the Department of Psychology, is named in his honour.[3]
Personal life
Singer lived at Steartfield House, Paignton (now the Palace Hotel).[4] He married his first wife, Blanche Wills-Hale, in 1887.[1][5] On 21 July 1915 he married Ellen Mary Longsdon, widow of Alfred Allen Longsdon, who had been drowned at Le Havre while driving his ambulance earlier that year. On 25 July 1927 they adopted Mary's youngest son, Grant Allen (Longsdon), in the name of Grant Allen Singer (1915–1942).