In the course of his negotiations to establish St. Mary's as a church school, the Bishop discovered that the churchmen of South Carolina had been for some time loyal and generous supporters of the school. After reflection upon this fact, he determined to ask the Diocese of South Carolina to co-operate in the maintenance and management of St. Mary's. When he discussed the subject with the Board of Trustees, it was decided to appoint a committee of the Board to meet at Saluda to confer with representatives from South Carolina. The conference was held in August, 1898. After a friendly and constructive discussion, the conference resolved that St. Mary's School should be placed under the "control and patronage of all the Carolina Dioceses." Bishop Cheshire met with the convention of the Diocese of South Carolina in the spring of 1899 and presented the advantages and possibilities of St. Mary's as a church institution. The resolution of the Saluda conference was reported to the convention and was unanimously adopted. Bishop Capers, two clergymen, and two laymen were appointed to the Board of Trustees to represent South Carolina. After patient and diligent work Bishop Cheshire was able to unite the church of the two states in the support of one church school for girls. In a comparatively short time it was to become the largest Episcopal school for girls in the United States. In the winter of 1897 Bishop Cheshire suffered an irreparable loss in the death of his wife. Their married life of twenty-two years had been remarkably happy. Mrs. Cheshire had been a great help to him in his work as deacon and priest and later as bishop of the Diocese. She gave him encouragement, devotion, and the benefit of her sound common sense. The Bishop often spoke of how much she meant to him in his work, and of their happy life together. It was a fortunate coincidence that the Lambeth Conference came in the summer of 1897, for it enabled him to have a complete change, removing him from those associations which reminded him so strongly of his wife. The Lambeth Conference, which convenes approximately every ten years at Lambeth Palace, London, is composed of all the bishops of the Episcopal Church throughout the world. Bishop Cheshire decided to attend, believing it would be broadening and an exceedingly worth-while experience. The object of the Conference was to discuss religious questions of world-wide interest. In the course of its sessions it would be divided into groups which would discuss problems relating to particular countries. The Bishop sailed from New York on June 2, arriving in England six days later. Since the Conference did not commence until July 1, he spent the intervening time sight-seeing. This was the summer of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, giving an additional interest to his trip. He attended the Jubilee service at St. Paul's, and remarked that the Bishop of London preached "a good sermon" for the occasion.