Bather was awarded the Lyell Medal of the Geological Society, of which he also served as President. He was an Honorary Member of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall,[4] and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1909.[4] He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1928.[5] In 1932 Bather was awarded the Mary Clark Thompson Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.[6]