Religious routes to Gladstonian liberalism : the church rate conflict in England and Wales, 1832-1868 / J.P. Ellens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ellens, J. P. (Jacob P.), 1948- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898.

Gladstone, W. E.

Church and state--England--History--19th century.

Church and state.

Liberalism--England--History--19th century.

Liberalism.

Church tax--England--History--19th century.

Church tax.

Great Britain--Politics and government--1837-1901.

Great Britain.

England--Church history--19th century.

England.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 301 pages)

Place of Publication:

University Park, Pennsylvania : Pennsylvania State University Press, [1994]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction: The Confessional State and the Law of Church Rates, 1832

I. Origins of the Church Rate Conflict and the Birth of Voluntaryism, 1832-1838

11. The Impact of Voluntaryism, 1838-1853

111. The Liberation Society and the Assault on Church Rates, 1853-1859

IV. Church Defense: Opportunities Missed, 1859-1865

V. Resolution of the Church Rate Conflict, 1865-1868

Conclusion: An Established Church and VoluntaIy Rates in a Liberal State, 1868

Appendix

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [277]-293) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780271072579

0271072571

9780271072593

0271072598

OCLC:

1347259673