 Shortly after he took his bachelor's degree he was ordained as deacon; in 1776 Queens' offered him a fellowship; in the following year he became a priest and college tutor; and in 1778 he was presented with the rectory of St Botolph's Church, Cambridge.However, he was a northerner at heart and thus was sent to reform the management of the Deanery of Carlisle.Taking a scientific approach to the Church of England's most northerly parishes he achieved success for the chapter and diocese.