 Fancourt was a cricket fan, an avid golfer and a fine bridge player and was popular among his colleagues.By the late 1940s, his health began to fail, and in 1950 he gave up the role of Mountararat.In his last year, he continued to perform although he was very ill. Fancourt received the OBE in June 1953 in the Coronation Honours shortly after announcing his forthcoming retirement.