Public Worship Regulation Act 1874

The Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict. c. 85) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced as a Private Member's Bill by Archbishop of Canterbury Archibald Campbell Tait, to limit what he perceived as the growing ritualism of Anglo-Catholicism and the Oxford Movement within the Church of England.Template:Sfnp The Bill was strongly endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, and vigorously opposed by Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone. Queen Victoria strongly supported it.Template:Sfn The law was seldom enforced, but at least five clergymen were imprisoned by judges for contempt of court, which greatly embarrassed the Church of England archbishops who had vigorously promoted it.Template:Sfn

Tait's Bill

Tait's Bill was controversial. It was given government backing by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, who called it "a bill to put down ritualism". He referred to the practices of the Oxford Movement as "a Mass in masquerade". Queen Victoria was supportive of the Act's Protestant intentions.Template:Sfnp Liberal leader William Ewart Gladstone, a high church Anglican whose sympathies were for separation of church and state, felt disgusted that the liturgy was made, as he saw it, "a parliamentary football".Template:Sfnp

The Act

Before the Act, the Church of England regulated its worship practices through the Arches Court with an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Act established a new court, presided over by former Divorce Court judge Lord Penzance. Many citizens were scandalised by parliamentary interference with worship and, moreover, by its proposed supervision by a secular court. The Act gave bishops the discretionary power to order a stay of proceedings.Template:Sfnp

Section 8 of the Act allows an archdeacon, church warden, or three adult male parishioners of a parish to serve on the bishop a representation, in their opinion:Template:Sfnp

Illustration of Fr. Richard Enraght entering Warwick Prison in 1880

The bishop had the discretion to stay proceedings but, if he allowed them to proceed, the parties had the opportunity to submit to his direction with no right of appeal. The bishop was able to issue a monition, but if the parties did not agree to his jurisdiction, then the matter was to be sent for trial (section 9).Template:Sfnp

The Act provided a casus belli for the Anglo-Catholic English Church Union and the evangelical Church Association. Many clergy were brought to trial, and five were ultimately imprisoned for contempt of court.Template:Sfnp

List of clergy imprisoned

• Arthur Tooth, vicar of St James's, Hatcham, 1877Template:Sfn
• T. Pelham Dale, rector of St Vedast Foster Lane, in the City of London, 1880
• Richard William Enraght, rector of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, West Midlands, 1880
• Sidney Faithorn Green, rector of St John's, Miles Platting, Manchester, 1881–82
• James Bell Cox, vicar of St Margaret's, Liverpool, 1887Template:Sfn

These clergy were supported financially by George Boyle, 6th Earl of Glasgow, who donated considerable sums to their defence and compensation.Template:Sfn

Prosecutions ended when a Royal Commission in 1906 recognised the legitimacy of pluralism in worship, but the Act remained in force for 91 years until it was repealed on 1 March 1965 by the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963.

Territorial extent

The Act extended to England, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

See also

• Anglican eucharistic theology

References

Sources

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Further reading

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• Graber, Gary W. Ritual Legislation in the Victorian Church of England: Antecedents and Passage of the Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874 (1993) online review; a standard scholarly history of the Act.
• Janes, Dominic. "The 'Modern Martyrdom' of Anglo-Catholics in Victorian England." Journal of Religion and Society 13 (2011) online.
• Janes, Dominic. Victorian Reformation: The Fight over Idolatry in the Church of England, 1840-1860 (Oxford University Press, 2009).
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: The 19th century in Europe volume 2 (1959) p. 270-279.
• Reed, John Shelton. Glorious Battle: The Cultural Politics of Victorian Anglo-Catholicism (London: Tufton Books, 1998).
• Roberts, Andrew. Salisbury: Victorian Titan (1999) pp. 135–138.
• Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline (1906) Report of the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline
• Shannon, Richard. The Age of Disraeli, 1868-1881: The Rise of Tory Democracy (1992) pp. 199–210.
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