Willingham Franklin Rawnsley Willingham Franklin Rawnsley Willingham Franklin Rawnsley (1845?–1927) was a British author and the proprietor of a private school. Willingham Franklin Rawnsley was the oldest of ten children of the Rev. Drummond Rawnsley, rector of Halton Holgate in Lincolnshire, England, and Catherine Ann (Franklin) Rawnsley. The Arctic explorer John Franklin was his great-uncle, and as a child he served as a page at Alfred, Lord Tennyson's wedding. His younger brother Hardwicke became a Church of England clergyman and a founder of the National Trust. Rawnsley was educated at Christ Church and Corpus Christi Colleges at Oxford University, where he took honours
Robert Hunter (National Trust) natural beauty and historic interest for the nation. The need for such a body was emphasised in 1886, when the owner of Sayes Court, a manor house in Deptford, wished to give it to the nation, but could not because no national organisation existed to accept the gift. He established a permanent trust under the chairmanship of the vicar of the parish, and presented the house and gardens with a substantial financial endowment to maintain them. In November 1893 Hill, Hunter and Rawnsley met at the offices of the Commons Preservation Society. They agreed to set up a national body,