Religious Routes to Gladstonian Liberalism: The Church Rate Conflict in England and Wales 1852–1868

Jacob Ellens

Published by Penn State University Press 1994

Religious Routes to Gladstonian Liberalism

The Church Rate Conflict in England and Wales 1852–1868

Jacob Ellens

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271072593

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book, covering the period 1832 to 1868, describes how the so-called "church rates" controversy contributed to the rise of a secular liberal state in England and Wales. The church rate was an ancient tax required of all ratepayers, regardless of denomination, for the upkeep of parish churches of the Church of England. This meant that Dissenters and other non-Anglicans paid for the support of the established Church.

In the 1830s, however, the Dissenters determined to tolerate the situation no longer. The resulting thirty-six-year struggle became the central church-state issue of the Victorian period. Ellens further argues that church rates played a pivotal role in the shaping of Victorian liberalism. Dissenters desired a society in which church and state would be separate and religious affairs voluntary. When Gladstone decided to champion the Dissenters' "voluntaryist" cause in the 1860s, he established the relationship that would give him the solid basis of electoral strength he needed to carry out the great liberal reforms of his governments after 1868. Elegantly written and argued, this book carefully details the process of disestablishment in England and Wales and uncovers an important and little-recognized dimension to the formation of the Liberal party.

Author / Editor information

Ellens Jacob :

J. P. Ellens is Associate Professor of History at Redeemer College in Ontario, Canada.

Reviews

“Ellens is the first historian to tackle a comprehensive history of the church rates question, and he carries it off in a superlative fashion. The church rates issue was the great Dissenting issue during the period, and Ellens reveals with insight and admirable clarity the intricacies of the changing relationships as the Liberal party’s support waxed and waned. This book will be required reading for anyone interested in the history of Victorian Britain.”
—R. W. Davis, Washington University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction: The Confessional State and the Law of Church Rates, 1832 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
I. Origins of the Church Rate Conflict and the Birth of Voluntaryism, 1832-1838 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
11. The Impact of Voluntaryism, 1838-1853 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
111. The Liberation Society and the Assault on Church Rates, 1853-1859 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
IV. Church Defense: Opportunities Missed, 1859-1865 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
V. Resolution of the Church Rate Conflict, 1865-1868 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Conclusion: An Established Church and VoluntaIy Rates in a Liberal State, 1868 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295

Language: English
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 316
Keywords: The Church Rate Conflict in England and Wales; Jacob Ellens; 1832-1868; 0-271-01036-3; History; European; Comparative Politics; Victorian Britain; Dissenting; Church of England; Gladstone

eBook

Published: May 26, 2021
ISBN: 9780271072593