Richard Gaunt
Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, University of Nottingham
Religion played a prominent role in British politics during the long nineteenth century, determining both the terms upon which politics was conducted and the subject matter of many important debates. Under the Revolution Settlement of 1688, Catholics and Nonconformists were debarred from political and civic office, unless they subscribed to the religious tests of the established Church of England. This was reinforced by the Act of Union with Ireland in 1800 which denied Catholic Emancipation (political representation) and provided a key political battleground for politicians at Westminster. The repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts in 1828 and Catholic Emancipation in 1829 removed the formal barriers against Nonconformists and Catholics becoming MPs. However, Jews were prevented from becoming MPs until 1858, while atheists opposed the religious oath required of them upon election. This was only settled after the case of the MP Charles Bradlaugh was extensively debated during the 1880s.
Religion was central to other areas of political debate. The extent to which non-Anglicans should support the established Church through the payment of tithe and church rates remained contentious issues until the 1860s. Likewise, the tensions between a Protestant establishment and an overwhelmingly Catholic population in Ireland became increasingly focused upon the issue of Home Rule. This subject dominated parliamentary debate after 1886. Education was particularly affected by religion. The provision of appropriate religious education influenced debates over factory working hours from the 1830s, while the introduction of school boards in the 1870 Education Act opened a series of disputes involving different religious denominations. Higher education was not immune from these debates. It was not until the 1850s that the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge were opened up to Nonconformists, by enabling them to matriculate and to graduate. In 1871, Gladstone’s government passed legislation which enabled them to receive scholarships and hold teaching posts. However, the continuing potential for conflict was reflected in the controversy which followed Balfour’s Education Act of 1902, which was opposed by many Nonconformists.
This Routledge Historical Resource offers a wide range of primary sources and secondary literature to explore these major issues of political debate. The later chapters of Nigel Yates’s Eighteenth-Century Britain: Religion and Politics, 1714–1815 and Stewart Brown’s Providence and Empire: Religion, Politics, and Society in the UK, 1815–1914 offer introductions to the major events. The issue of Catholic representation, or lack of representation, is fully documented in Parts I and II of Harry Dickinson’s Ireland in the Age of Revolution, 1760–1805.