The Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict c 85) was an Act of

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, introduced as a Private Member's Bill by Archbishop of Canterbury

Archibald Campbell Tait Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 18113 December 1882) was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England. Life Tait was bo ...

, to limit what he perceived as the growing ritualism of

Anglo-Catholicism Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

and the Oxford Movement within the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. The bill was strongly endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, and vigorously opposed by Liberal party leader

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

. Queen Victoria strongly supported it. 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.

Tait's bill

Tait's bill was controversial. It was given government backing by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Benjamin Disraeli, who called it "a bill to put down ritualism". He referred to the practices of the Oxford Movement as "a

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

in masquerade".

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

was supportive of the Act's

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

intentions.

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

leader

, a

high church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

Anglican whose sympathies were for

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

, felt disgusted that the liturgy was made, as he saw it, "a parliamentary football".

The Act

Before the Act, the Church of England regulated its

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogniti ...

practices through the

Court of Arches The Arches Court, presided over by the Dean of Arches, is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the Province of Canterbury. Its equivalent in the Province of York is the Chancery Court. It takes its name from the street-level ...

with appeal to the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Aug ...

. The Act established a new court, presided over by former

Divorce Court ''Divorce Court'' is an American court show that revolves around settling the disputes of couples going through divorces. The show has had four separate runs, all in first-run syndication. Since the debut of the original series in 1957, it is ...

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

bishop 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 c ...

s the discretionary power to order a stay of proceedings. Section 8 of the Act allowed an archdeacon,

church warden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

or three adult male parishioners of a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

to serve on the

a representation that in their opinion: 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). The Act provided a '' casus belli'' for the

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...

English Church Union The Church Union is an Anglo-Catholic advocacy group within the Church of England. The organisation was founded as the Church of England Protection Society on 12 May 1859 to challenge the authority of the English civil courts to determine questio ...

and the

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Church Association. Many clergy were brought to trial and five ultimately imprisoned for contempt of court.

List of clergy imprisoned

* Revd

Sidney Faithorn Green Sidney Faithorn Green (1841–1916) was an English clergyman who, during the Ritualism, Ritualist controversies in the Church of England, was imprisoned for 20 months for liturgy, liturgical practice contrary to the Public Worship Regulation Act 1 ...

, Rector of St John's,

Miles Platting Miles Platting is an inner city part of Manchester, England, northeast of Manchester city centre along the Rochdale Canal and A62 road, bounded by Monsall to the north, Collyhurst to the west, Newton Heath to the east, and Bradford, Holt To ...

, Manchester, 1881–82 * Revd T. Pelham Dale, Rector of St Vedast Foster Lane, in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, 1880 * Revd Richard William Enraght, Rector of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, West Midlands, 1880 * Revd

James Bell Cox James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, Vicar of St Margaret's,

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* Revd Arthur Tooth, Vicar of St James's, Hatcham, 1877 These clergy were supported financially by George Boyle, 6th Earl of Glasgow, who donated considerable sums to their defence and compensation. Prosecutions ended when a Royal Commission in 1906 recognised the legitimacy of pluralism in worship,Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline (1906)
Report of the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline
' but the Act remained in force for 91 years until it was repealed on 1 March 1965 by the

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963 The Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1963 was introduced to simplify ecclesiastical law as it applied to the Church of England, following the recommendations of the 1954 Archbishops' Commission on Ecclesiastical Courts. Superseding the Ecclesia ...

Territorial extent

The Act extended to England, the

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and the

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References

Citations

Sources

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