appointed as an honorary canon of Carlisle Cathedral in 1891. Within his parish, his interest in education led him to take a large part in founding Keswick High School, one of the first co-educational secondary schools in the country, which opened in October 1898. He was chairman of the school's board of governors, and Cumberland's director of education described him as "the real founder of the Keswick High School". To Rawnsley, education was not merely about the basic "three Rs"; it had to also incorporate culture, art, awareness of nature and responsibility to all living things. County Councillor Of the three people who later founded the National Trust, Rawnsley was the only one who associated himself even loosely with a party political movement. Robert Hunter, as a civil servant, was not permitted to do so and Octavia Hill was wary of governments and parties in general. There were two main British parties at the time: the Conservatives, seen as defending the interests of the landed aristocracy, and the Liberals, generally more sympathetic to ideas about environmental protection and public access to the countryside. When English local government was reorganised in the late 1880s Rawnsley stood as an independent Liberal for the newly-formed Cumberland County Council in January 1889. He was elected as the member for Keswick. Rawnsley became chairman of the council's Highways Committee. He stood out against the construction of roads over lakeland passes, secured controls over mining pollution, and promoted adequate signposting of footpaths. As a councillor he was continually at odds with the brewing industry. He hated drunkenness, and opposed what he saw as excessive numbers of public houses and unduly lax alcohol licensing regulations. But he was never a prohibitionist: after returning from a tour of French vineyards he wrote to The Times protesting against Britain's high tax on the importation of French wine, which he saw as unfair and as contributing to rural poverty in France. Ruskin's emphasis on practical skills was a lifelong influence on Rawnsley, and as a county councillor he promoted a mobile dairy hygiene unit. Its horse-drawn dairies toured the farms and villages, showing how to produce butter and cheese to the highest standards. Griffiths comments that it not only improved life for local farm workers but also led to increased competition against Danish dairy imports. This initiative developed into the Newton Rigg Farm School, near Penrith, which opened in 1896