Robert Hunter (National Trust) to propagate the formation of a "National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty". In July 1894 the trust was formally inaugurated under the presidency of the Duke of Westminster. At the inaugural meeting Rawnsley declared, to cheering, that the aim was to establish "a great National Gallery of natural pictures". Hunter was appointed chairman of the executive committee. In the same year he was knighted for his services to conservation. Hunter had warned the inaugural meeting that the trust would be on a truly secure footing only if it obtained the permanent status granted by either a
Hardwicke Rawnsley Lord Tennyson, with whom Rawnsley had a family connection. In 1883 Rawnsley was appointed Vicar of Crosthwaite, near Keswick, and Rural Dean. In 1891 was appointed as an honorary canon of Carlisle Cathedral. In 1884 he and his wife began organising classes in metalwork and wood carving, which resulted in the establishment of a School of Industrial Art in Keswick, which remained in operation until 1986. His interest in education also led him to take a large part in founding Keswick High School, which opened in October 1898, one of the first co-educational secondary schools in the country. In 1888