Hardwicke Rawnsley he wrote to "The Times" protesting against Britain's high tax on the importation of French wine, which he saw as unfair and as contributing to rural poverty in France. To protect the countryside from damaging development, Rawnsley, building on an idea propounded by Ruskin, conceived of a National Trust that could buy and preserve places of natural beauty and historic interest for the nation. The Trust became a reality in 1895; its co-founders were Rawnsley, Octavia Hill and Sir Robert Hunter. Until his death, Rawnsley worked as Honorary Secretary to the Trust. He was responsible for the campaign to raise
Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill for previous owner William A. Stokes, a wealthy lawyer and a major in the Civil War, this grand home had once contained the first private library Andrew Carnegie had ever seen, inspiring the public libraries he established in later years. There, they also established a school for boys and in 1883, St. Joseph's Academy for Girls. Within the next year, Saint Joseph Academy was opened. After creating the Saint Joseph Academy for Girls (which operated until 1947), the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill founded what came to be known as the Seton Hill Schools (which included the Seton Hill