238:, noted that the movement had the potential to effect change well beyond religious affairs because of the symbiotic relationship between the Established Church and the upper levels of society, whereby each buttressed the position of the other. Disestablishment might remove the prop that legitimised the role of the aristocracy and indeed the monarchy itself. There was indeed a wave of support for a more democratic society at that time and Miall repeatedly attacked the mutuality of the relationship between church and the social elite, believing it to be a force for snobbery and a barrier to progress. He said
141:
298:
Liberation
Society but the Party never became an organ of the Society, although it used the Society's organisational skills for its own purposes. Elisabeth Jay says that Miall's use of secular methods in pursuit of religious change "was perhaps the seed of failure for his great ambition, for the younger men whom he had stirred came to see social and political reform as ends in themselves."
317:
and linguistic variation. Separate campaigning movements emerged in those countries, distinct from the
Liberation Society. The situation in Scotland was different again, with the movement losing momentum from around the mid-1880s despite a clear majority of the population not being aligned with the
316:
occurred in 1920 but in neither case did it happen because of the efforts of the
Liberation Society. The change had much to do with the fact that Roman Catholicism and Nonconformism, respectively, were clearly favoured by the majority of the population and also because of the effects of nationalism
102:
for individuals meant that they thought there should be no connection between the state and church because that would imply a corporate conscience. Among the theoretical objections to a church-state relationship was the possibility of conflicted loyalties in situations where the desire of the state
111:
had done much to give
Nonconformists freedom of worship they still felt the weight of what they considered to be inappropriate and discriminatory practices. These practices included compulsory local levies known as church rates that were imposed on people, regardless of their religious belief, for
242:
The upper ten thousand with very few exceptions regard connection with the authorised ecclesiastical institution of the kingdom as inseparable from their elevated position ... To belong to the church is to side with respectability; to dissent from it is to cast in your lot with the vulgar.
131:
by the
Established Church. Even so, and even as part of these measures, new slights and sectarian complications emerged. It was against this background of holding an influential position yet perceiving discrimination that Nonconformist protest in forms such as the Liberation Society took shape.
297:
LAter, between 1871–73, Miall introduced three separate motions in parliament on the subject of disestablishment but he did not achieve his ultimate goal. He died in 1881. During his time, there were concessions gained as a part of deals to ensure that the
Liberal Party had the support of the
95:. This cohesion, which increased with the left-ward movement of the Wesleyans as the century progressed, meant that they could play a major role in determining political outcomes, both as an influential block of opinion within the Liberal Party and more generally in the country as a whole.
86:
reported that just under half the church-going population, which itself was around half of the total population, were
Nonconformists. While no religious movement was able to grow its audience in proportion to the increase in population over the remainder of the century, it seems that the
203:. At its heart, however, was a drive for disestablishment rather than mere removal of discriminatory practices. Miall's efforts relied heavily on political means to achieve religious ends, one outcome of which was that he was elected as a
169:
who had been inspired by those who had been campaigning against church rates. The imprisonment in 1840 of one of his congregation for non-payment of church rates caused him to leave his ministry to become editor of the new
636:
305:, which has been described by Ian Machin as "the greatest nonconformist electoral victory" with nearly 200 of their brethren returned to Parliament. With this decline came an lessening of the demands for disestablishment.
272:- that they "were either almost completely silent, or became tongue-tied in the House of Commons when it came to taking the lead in church reform". Anglican spokesmen for the Liberation Society in Parliament included the
192:. The Liberation Society, says historian Richard Helmstadter, became "the most important political organisation of the Nonconformist community" almost from its foundation and until the death of Miall in 1881.
87:
Nonconformists were more actively observant than their Church of
England counterparts towards its end. Generally, those who followed the various Nonconformist sects tended to be supporters of the
188:, Miall formed the British Anti-State Church Association in 1844. The group was renamed in 1853 as the Liberation Society on the advice of the relatively moderate veteran campaigner,
354:
Other groups that were formed to pursue the aim of disestablishment included the
Evangelical Voluntary Church Association and the Religious Freedom Society, both established in 1839.
172:
294:
In the 1860s the
Society concentrated much of its efforts in Wales, playing a leading role in several constituencies at the 1865 and 1868 general elections.
783:
234:, who wanted less interference from the state so that he could practice proscribed rituals. Some people, such as Richard Masheder, a Fellow of
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195:
The Society campaigned on issues including church rates and discrimination both in cemeteries and the established universities, such as
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as well as militant Nonconformists. It was a temporary recourse even for some members of the Established Church, notably the
208:
368:
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212:
363:
Miall represented Rochdale in Parliament between 1852-57; he entered parliament again in 1869, when he was elected for
291:. Their efforts were more evident and included Clay's 1854 attempt to introduce legislation to abolish church rates.
148:
153:
256:(MP) were not particularly effective in that venue. Miles Taylor says of those elected in 1852 - who included
276:
189:
177:
59:
235:
120:. Failure to pay, which happened as a form of protest, could lead to seizure of property and imprisonment.
301:
The number of Nonconformists declined fairly uniformly across their various denominations soon after the
729:
Citizenship and Community: Liberals, Radicals and Collective Identities in the British Isles, 1865-1931
83:
218:
The net of the Liberation Society spread wider, though. It encompassed disaffected groups such as the
253:
204:
726:
Machin, Ian (2002) , "Disestablishment and Democracy, c. 1840-1930", in Biagini, Eugenio F. (ed.),
280:
28:
662:, Religion in Victorian Britain, vol. IV (Reprinted ed.), Manchester University Press,
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196:
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weekly newspaper in 1841. With the additional impetus of controversy regarding discrimination in
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231:
99:
656:
Helmstadter, Richard J. (1998) , "The Non-Conformist Conscience", in Parsons, Gerald (ed.),
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differed from the conviction of the religion, potentially leading to extreme cases such as
8:
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24:
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82:– was a significant religious movement in mid-nineteenth century Britain. The
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36:
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45:
Society for the Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control
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The state attempted to address concerns by, for example, introducing
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79:
219:
75:
63:
16:
Organisation promoting separation of church and state in England
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Accordingly, Dissenters, simply as such, are esteemed inferior.
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and public burial grounds that included areas that were not
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1843 proposals for changes to education provisions in the
107:. More specifically, while repeal of measures such as the
698:"The Liberation Society and Welsh Politics, 1844 to 1868"
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Church of England for maintenance and running of their
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732:(Revised ed.), Cambridge University Press,
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659:Religion in Victorian Britain: Interpretations
748:The Decline of British Radicalism, 1847-1860
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538:
484:
448:
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215:, having first tried for election in 1845.
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47:, from which the shortened common name of
784:1844 establishments in the United Kingdom
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367:in a by-election, and left it at the
91:rather than its main opposition, the
41:British Anti-State Church Association
679:The Evangelical and Oxford Movements
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577:
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312:took place in 1871 and that of the
252:Miall and his fellow Nonconformist
13:
789:Church of England disestablishment
14:
805:
186:schism in the Church of Scotland
165:at the Congregational chapel in
766:Disestablishment and Liberation
764:Mackintosh, William H. (1972),
357:
43:and was renamed in 1853 as the
682:, Cambridge University Press,
637:"Masheder, Richard (MSDR843R)"
348:
1:
696:Jones, Ieuan Gwynedd (1961).
336:
54:
236:Magdalene College, Cambridge
135:
98:The Nonconformist belief in
35:. It was founded in 1844 by
7:
641:A Cambridge Alumni Database
324:
247:
10:
810:
623:
643:. University of Cambridge
308:Disestablishment of the
676:Jay, Elisabeth (1983),
147:as caricatured by Ape (
23:was an organisation in
746:Taylor, Miles (1995),
245:
158:
78:and other branches of
369:1874 general election
303:1906 general election
254:Members of Parliament
240:
232:Alexander Mackonochie
213:1852 general election
143:
100:freedom of conscience
706:Welsh History Review
205:Member of Parliament
27:that campaigned for
750:, Clarendon Press,
565:, pp. 193–224.
516:ACAD & MSDR843R
161:Edward Miall was a
616:, pp. 128–130
539:Helmstadter (1998)
485:Helmstadter (1998)
449:Helmstadter (1998)
422:Helmstadter (1998)
395:Helmstadter (1998)
319:Church of Scotland
159:
68:Congregationalists
49:Liberation Society
21:Liberation Society
757:978-0-19820-482-4
739:978-0-52189-360-2
689:978-0-52128-669-5
669:978-0-71902-946-2
310:Church of Ireland
266:Lawrence Heyworth
84:UK census of 1851
62:– which included
33:Church of England
25:Victorian England
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178:James Graham's
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125:civil marriage
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713:(2): 193–224
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285:John Roebuck
277:William Clay
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224:Free Traders
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182:Factory Acts
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160:
157:, July 1871.
152:
145:Edward Miall
122:
97:
58:
48:
44:
40:
37:Edward Miall
20:
18:
228:High Church
154:Vanity Fair
129:consecrated
114:Established
112:use by the
778:Categories
578:Jay (1983)
563:Jones 1961
504:Jay (1983)
337:References
258:James Bell
72:Unitarians
55:Background
379:Citations
220:Chartists
197:Cambridge
167:Leicester
136:Formation
109:Test Acts
105:martyrdom
80:Methodism
76:Wesleyans
51:derived.
365:Bradford
325:See also
274:Radicals
248:Outcomes
209:Rochdale
184:and the
64:Baptists
717:7 March
624:Sources
230:cleric
211:in the
39:as the
31:of the
754:
736:
686:
666:
647:24 May
201:Oxford
163:pastor
701:(PDF)
342:Notes
151:) in
752:ISBN
734:ISBN
719:2019
684:ISBN
664:ISBN
649:2015
287:and
268:and
222:and
207:for
199:and
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371:.
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