bourke & co carried on for many years until bourke resigned its direction to the care of his brothers while he himself toke over the control of the bourke estate and trust company of which he was chairman. bourke was director of numerous smaller companies and is largely interested in farming and other agricultural pursuits. he took part in the early development of the great gold mining industries, but without any very great measure of financial success. throughout the stirring days of barberton's beginnings, and the initial mining in the district of witwatersrand, he remained steadily at work in pretoria, although none of his local ventures proved really successful. bourke was a well known patron of sports and athletics. his interest in pretoria cricket was very keen, and he arranged for visits from the famous cricketers like bill brockwell, albert trott, and len braund. in his early days bourke was captain of the maritzburg rugby team, and took a hearty interest in the game throughout his life. bourke was an avid golfer and endeavored to wake up public interest in wildlife game protection and served for a time as chairman of the transvaal game protection association.