a lecturer at the college until 1833, when he was appointed a Fellow of Manchester Collegiate church (now the cathedral). Under Parkinson College admissions rose, and he set about schemes for improving the college and buildings. He proposed to incorporate the college with a charter, so it could confer degrees, and to build residential accommodation. Parkinson offered to donate £5,000 personally. However, he would not surrender power to a proposed governing council of clergy and laity, and consequently the scheme failed. Had the college progressed in this way, it may well have survived into the 20th century. Instead, Parkinson applied his energies to extending the vicarage and improving the church. Canon Parkinson died in 1858, and his successor, and was succeeded by Rev. G. H. Ainger, the son of the first principal, William Ainger. He was to be known as the great builder of the college and restorer of the priory. The college continued to prosper, and during the 1860s annual admissions were frequently over 40. College life seems to have been particularly lively at this time, with many grand celebrations. There was a gala day at the Priory when Ainger was presented with a handsome portrait costing £100. The Militia band played, and a special train was put on from Whitehaven. On another occasion, the anniversary dinner of the college in 1862, no fewer than 25 toasts were proposed, which attracted the criticism of the Whitehaven Temperance Society. The popularity of the college meant there had to be additional teaching facilities, and in 1863 a new building was completed to the design of William Butterfield, to provide two large lecture rooms. This still stands to the south of the priory and is known as the New College Halls. Ainger was principal until 1871, when he moved to be vicar of Rothbury. Decline The new principal was Canon E H Knowles, who had been a mathematics and classics master at St Bees School from 1843 to 1864, then headmaster of Kenilworth Grammar School. He had close ties with the college, having married Revd. G. H. Ainger's sister. College numbers initially dropped during the 1870s but picked up again in the 1880s, with a maximum yearly intake of 47 in 1883. However, although St Bees College had been a pioneering institution, the rest of the country had caught up. There were now numerous theological colleges modelled on the St Bees example,