Catholic Relief Act 1829
Encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom
on 24 March 1829, and received Royal Assent
on 13 April. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic Emancipation
throughout the nation. In Ireland it repealed the Test Act 1673
and the remaining Penal Laws
which had been in force since the passing of the Disenfranchising Act
of the Irish Parliament of 1728. Its passage followed a vigorous campaign on the issue by Irish lawyer, Daniel O'Connell
. O'Connell had firm support from the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington
, as well as from the Whigs and liberal Tories.
The Act permitted members of the Catholic Church
to sit in the parliament at Westminster. O'Connell had won a seat in a by-election for Clare
in 1828 against the newly appointed President of the Board of Trade, Vesey Fitzgerald, an Anglican. Under the then extant penal law, O'Connell as a Roman Catholic, was forbidden to take his seat in Westminster
.
Sir Robert Peel
, the Home Secretary
, who had for all of his career opposed emancipation (and had, in 1815, challenged O'Connell to a duel) concluded: "though emancipation was a great danger, civil strife was a greater danger." Fearing a revolution in Ireland, Peel drew up the Catholic Relief Bill and guided it through the House of Commons. To overcome the vehement opposition of both the House of Lords
and George IV
, the Duke of Wellington worked tirelessly to ensure passage in the House of Lords, and threatened to resign as Prime Minister
if the King did not give Royal Assent.
. The Act raised fivefold the economic qualifications for voting. Starting in the initial relief granting the vote by the Irish Parliament in 1793, any man renting or owning land worth at least forty shilling
s (the equivalent of two Pounds Sterling
), had been permitted to vote. Under the Act, this was raised to ten pounds
Evans (1996) emphasizes that the political importance of emancipation was that it split the anti-reformers beyond repair and diminished their ability to block future reform laws, especially the great Reform Act of 1832. Paradoxically, Wellington's success in forcing through emancipation converted many Ultra-Tories
to demand reform of Parliament. They saw that the votes of the rotten boroughs had given the government its majority. Therefore it was an ultra-Tory, the Marquis of Blandford, who in February 1830 introduced the first major reform bill, calling for the transfer of rotten borough seats to the counties and large towns, the disfranchisement of non-resident voters, preventing Crown office-holders from sitting in Parliament, the payment of a salary to MPs, and the general franchise for men who owned property. The ultras believed that a widely based electorate could be relied upon to rally around anti-Catholicism .
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
on 24 March 1829, and received Royal Assent
Royal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
on 13 April. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic Emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
throughout the nation. In Ireland it repealed the Test Act 1673
Test Act
The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists...
and the remaining Penal Laws
Penal Laws (Ireland)
The term Penal Laws in Ireland were a series of laws imposed under English and later British rule that sought to discriminate against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters in favour of members of the established Church of Ireland....
which had been in force since the passing of the Disenfranchising Act
Disenfranchising Act
The Disenfranchising Act was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of Ireland passed in 1727, one of a series of penal laws, prohibiting all Roman Catholics from voting...
of the Irish Parliament of 1728. Its passage followed a vigorous campaign on the issue by Irish lawyer, Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847; often referred to as The Liberator, or The Emancipator, was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century...
. O'Connell had firm support from the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
, as well as from the Whigs and liberal Tories.
The Act permitted members of the Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
to sit in the parliament at Westminster. O'Connell had won a seat in a by-election for Clare
Clare (UK Parliament constituency)
Clare was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1801 to 1885 it returned two Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
in 1828 against the newly appointed President of the Board of Trade, Vesey Fitzgerald, an Anglican. Under the then extant penal law, O'Connell as a Roman Catholic, was forbidden to take his seat in Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
Sir Robert Peel
Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846...
, the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, who had for all of his career opposed emancipation (and had, in 1815, challenged O'Connell to a duel) concluded: "though emancipation was a great danger, civil strife was a greater danger." Fearing a revolution in Ireland, Peel drew up the Catholic Relief Bill and guided it through the House of Commons. To overcome the vehement opposition of both the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, the Duke of Wellington worked tirelessly to ensure passage in the House of Lords, and threatened to resign as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
if the King did not give Royal Assent.
Compromise
The Act was a compromise, as it effectively disenfranchised the minor landholders of Ireland, the so-called Forty Shilling FreeholdersForty Shilling Freeholders
Forty shilling freeholders were a group of landowners who had the Parliamentary franchise to vote in county constituencies in various parts of the British Isles. In England it was the only such qualification from 1430 until 1832...
. The Act raised fivefold the economic qualifications for voting. Starting in the initial relief granting the vote by the Irish Parliament in 1793, any man renting or owning land worth at least forty shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s (the equivalent of two Pounds Sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
), had been permitted to vote. Under the Act, this was raised to ten pounds
Political results
Clark (1985) depicts England before 1828 as a nation in which the vast majority of the people believed in the divine right of kings, and the legitimacy of a hereditary nobility, and in the rights and privileges of the Anglican Church. In Clark's interpretation, the system remained virtually intact until it suddenly collapsed in 1828, because Catholic emancipation undermines its central symbolic prop, the Anglican supremacy. Clark argues that the consequences were enormous: "The shattering of a whole social order....What was lost at that point... was not merely a constitutional arrangement, but the intellectual ascendancy of a worldview, the cultural hegemony of the old elite." Clark's interpretation has been widely debated in the scholarly literature.Evans (1996) emphasizes that the political importance of emancipation was that it split the anti-reformers beyond repair and diminished their ability to block future reform laws, especially the great Reform Act of 1832. Paradoxically, Wellington's success in forcing through emancipation converted many Ultra-Tories
Ultra-Tories
The Ultra-Tories were an Anglican faction of British and Irish politics that appeared in the 1820s in opposition to Catholic emancipation. They were later called the "extreme right wing" of British and Irish politics. They broke away from the governing party in 1829 after the passing of the...
to demand reform of Parliament. They saw that the votes of the rotten boroughs had given the government its majority. Therefore it was an ultra-Tory, the Marquis of Blandford, who in February 1830 introduced the first major reform bill, calling for the transfer of rotten borough seats to the counties and large towns, the disfranchisement of non-resident voters, preventing Crown office-holders from sitting in Parliament, the payment of a salary to MPs, and the general franchise for men who owned property. The ultras believed that a widely based electorate could be relied upon to rally around anti-Catholicism .
Further reading
- Davis, Richard W. "Wellington and the 'Open Question': The Issue of Catholic Emancipation, 1821-1829," Albion, 1997, Vol. 29 Issue 1, pp 39-55.
- Davis, Richard W. "The House of Lords, the Whigs and Catholic Emancipation 1806-1829," Parliamentary History, March 1999, Vol. 18 Issue 1, pp 23-43.
- Machin, G. I. T. "Resistance to Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, 1828," Historical Journal, March 1979, Vol. 22 Issue 1, pp 115-139.