Later, at St Paul's, a 2,000 plus seat church specifically built for him and consecrated on 2 March 1848 by John Bird Sumner, then Archbishop of Canterbury elect (it closed in 1974) he enjoyed a large income. Over time, M‘Neile became a rich man and his financial independence meant that he answered to none: "McNeile was a fighter by instinct and a political parson by principle and, supported by a confidence derived from considerable personal wealth, he was his own man."