and he held the post of chaplain to the Border Regiment of the Territorial Force, with the rank of colonel. When the First World War began in 1914 Rawnsley's views were straightforward: "The German envy and hate, which has been nursed against us secretly for the last 30 years, is now seen in all its open madness. It is the blackest and most devilish thing that has been heard of in history". He urged the young men of Cumberland to fight "for home and Empire". Among the volunteers was his son, Noel, who survived the war. Rawnsley's confidence was shaken as the war went on and the lists of casualties grew longer and longer. When the war ended he was at the forefront of organising the peace celebrations. In 1915, with a view to eventual retirement, Rawnsley bought Allan Bank, Grasmere, a house in which Wordsworth had lived between 1808 and 1811. While he was staying at Carlisle in December 1916 his wife died at Crosthwaite from cardiac arrest brought on by influenza. Rawnsley, who had also caught influenza, was too ill to attend her funeral. In his absence the service was led by the Bishop of Barrow-in-Furness, Campbell West-Watson. Rawnsley felt unable to carry on without Edith's help, and the week after Easter 1917 he resigned from St Kentigern's after 34 years and retired to Allan Bank. He continued his work for the National Trust and remained an active Canon of Carlisle. In 1918 he married Eleanor "Nellie" Foster Simpson, a long-standing friend to him and Edith, who had for some years been his secretary. After the marriage the couple's honeymoon consisted of a tour of National Trust properties in Wales, a trip that was the basis of Rawnsley's last book, a study of thirteen of the trust's properties in Wales and the West Country. Rawnsley suffered a heart attack and died at Allan Bank on 28 May 1920, after a brief illness. He was buried in the churchyard of St Kentigern's alongside Edith. He bequeathed Allan Bank to the National Trust, with a lifetime lease to Eleanor, who lived there until her death in 1959. Legacy In its obituary notice, The Times wrote that "It is no exaggeration to say – and it is much to say of anyone – that England would be a much duller and less healthy and happy country if [Rawnsley] had not lived