Henry Compton by Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt

The Compton Census was a census of the population of England and Wales held in 1676 to determine their religious affiliation. Charles II's

Lord Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...

, Lord Danby, was pursuing a pro-

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

policy. The King was sceptical of this, believing that it would unite the

Nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

s into a powerful bloc that would be too strong to be overcome. Danby devised an ecclesiastical census of the population to demonstrate the numerical inferiority of Nonconformists. As the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

Gilbert Sheldon Gilbert Sheldon (19 June 1598 – 9 November 1677) was an English religious leader who served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1663 until his death. Early life Sheldon was born in Stanton, Staffordshire in the parish of Ellastone, on 19 ...

, was too infirm Danby turned to the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, Henry Compton. Compton's instructions were:

First, What number of persons or at least families are by common account and estimation inhabiting within each parish subject under them .e. the Bishops Secondly, what number of Popish recusants, or such as are suspected of recusancy, are there among such inhabitants at present? Thirdly, what number of other
Dissenters A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, an ...
are resident in such parishes, which either obstinately refuse, or wholly absent themselves from, the Communion of the Church of England at such time as by law they are required?

After Compton received the results, he estimated the proportion of Anglicans to Nonconformists as 23 to 1; Anglicans to Roman Catholics 179 to 1; Anglicans and Nonconformists to Roman Catholics 187 to 1.Carpenter, p. 32.

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