He was succeeded as superior in 1841 by John Bernard Palmer, who had entered the monastery at Lulworth in 1808. He had left with the community for Melleray in 1817, but in 1836 was asked to join the new community of Mount St Bernard. In 1848, the monastery became an abbey and Dom Bernard Palmer was elected as its first abbot. Dom Bernard is described as having been, "a simple, almost unlettered man but one who was known for his holiness and deep purity of life. He was the unanimous choice of his brethren as their first abbot. He was, until his death in 1852, the only mitred abbot in England, and the 'Abbot of Mount Saint Bernard' was widely known, but it was for his humility, charity and love for the poor that he was most widely recognised and esteemed".