Before New Liberalism: The Continuity of Radical Dissent, 1867-1914 A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2019 Nicholas A. Loizou School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Table of Contents: List of Figures 4 Abstract 6 Introduction 10 Research Objectives: A Revision in Politico-Religious History 10 A Historiographical Review 13 Methodology and Approach 23 1. Radical Dissent, Social Gospels and the Community, 1860-1906 28 1. Introduction 28 2. Growing Communitarianism and Religious Theology 29 3. The Importance of Radical Dissent and the Community 37 4. Nonconformity and the Urban Working Class 41 5. Nonconformity and the Liberal Party 51 6. Conclusion 56 2. Nonconformity, Liberalism and Labour 58 1. Introduction 58 2. The Significance of Nonconformity in Co-operative Class Relations 62 3. The Reform League 69 4. Nonconformity, Class and Christian Brotherhood in the Age of Gladstone 77 5. ‘That Church and King Mob’: Nonconformity, Brotherhood and Anti-Tory Rhetoric 82 6. Liberal-Labour Politics and the Late Nineteenth Century Social Turn in Nonconformity 87 7. Conclusion 93 3. Birmingham and the Civic Gospel: 1860-1886 94 1. Introduction 94 2. The Civic Gospel: The Origins of a Civic Theology 98 3. The Civic Gospel and the Cohesion of the Birmingham Corporation: 1860 – 1886 102 4. The Civic Gospel and Municipal Socialism: 1867-1886 111 5. The National Liberal Federation 116 6. The Radical Programme 122 7. Conclusion: The Legacy of Birmingham Progressivism 128 4. From Provincial Liberalism to National Politics: Nonconformist Movements 1860-1906 130 2 1. Introduction 130 2. From Provincial Nonconformity to High Politics: The Campaigns for Compulsory Secular Education and the Role of the State 132 3. The Campaigns for Compulsory Secular Education and the Working Class 139 4. From Provincial Nonconformity to High Politics: Temperance and the United Kingdom Alliance 145 5. The Liberal Party and Prohibition 156 6. The Growth of National Nonconformity: 1886-1906 160 7. Conclusion 166 5. Liberal Legislation and Parliamentary Nonconformity, 1906-1914 167 1. Introduction 167 2. The Legislative Impact of Nonconformity on Edwardian Liberalism: A Case Study of Percy Alden 169 3. A Census of Nonconformist MPs by Sectarian Affiliation 178 4. Nonconformist Sectarianism and Hansen’s List of Radical MPs 183 5. Nonconformist Voting Behaviour and New Liberalism 187 6. Conclusion 197 Conclusion 198 Appendix 1. Nonconformists Included in Hansen’s List of Radical MPs 203 Appendix 2. MPs by Religious Affiliation February 1907 and December 1910 206 Appendix 3. Log of Changes in Liberal Party Composition 1906 to 1912 234 Bibliography 237 Word count: 80,407 3 List of Figures: Fig. 1. Finance Bill, 2nd Reading, June 10th 1909 191 Fig. 2. Finance Bill, Final Reading, November 4th 1909 191 Fig. 3. Eight Hour Coal Mines Bill, 3rd Reading, 6th December 1908 193 Fig. 4. Vote to Pursue immediate legislation (National Insurance Act, 14th December 1911) 193 Fig. 5. Coal Mines Minimum Wage for Workers, 2nd Hearing, 21st March 1912 194 Fig. 6. Coal Mines Minimum Wage for Workers, Final Hearing, 26th March 1912 194 Fig. 7. Specific Amendment proposed by Keir Hardie for Coal Mines Minimum Wage Bill, 26th March 1912 195 Fig. 8. Unemployment Workmen Bill stipulation, 30th April 1909 196 4 List of Abbreviations: ASSL: Arts and Social Science Library ASCA: Anti-State Church Association BIL: Bishopsgate Institute Library BU: Birmingham University CSU: Christian Social Union CRC: Cadbury Research Centre JRL: John Rylands Library LWMA: Liverpool Working Men’s Association NEL: National Education League NLF: National Liberal Federation ODNB: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography PHM: People’s History Museum TUC: Trade Union Congress UoB: University of Bristol 5 Abstract: The central aim of this thesis is to examine the role played by the radical traditions of provincial nonconformity in the emergence of New Liberalism between the 1860s and 1914. While New Liberalism is usually characterised as a secular movement that broke away from nonconformist traditions, this thesis demonstrates that it was in many respects a continuation of provincial nonconformity. The thesis charts its long-term impact at a local level, the formation of national organizations and then its direct legislative role after 1906. The main approach, in the earlier chapters, is to examine the use of religious rhetoric in overcoming sectionalism and divisions of class, in building co-operative relations between Liberals and labour movements, as well as long-term platforms such as the NLF. From this foundation, it examines the significance of nonconformist campaigns for compulsory education and prohibition in the Liberal Party’s ideological adjustment to the demands for domestic social reform in the penultimate chapter, concluding with a thorough qualitative and quantitative analysis of the role of nonconformist MPs in the Liberal administrations of 1906 and 1910 at the end. In so doing, the thesis mainly draws on sources from the press, including pamphlets, periodicals and newspapers, supplemented by other official documentation to examine how Liberal nonconformists developed radical initiatives through appeals to shared religious cultural mentalities, values and identities, before also utilizing parliamentary papers in the final chapter for the quantitative analysis of voting patterns. The thesis makes an important revision to our understanding of the complicated relationship between nonconformity and the Liberal Party during this difficult period of transition when the party’s identity was challenged, by reconnecting the provincial world of nonconformity directly with the politics of New Liberalism. 6 Declaration: No portion of this work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university of other institute of learning. 7 Copyright: i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trademarks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses 8 Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my primary supervisor Professor Stuart Jones and other co-supervisors including Dr Thomas Scriven, Dr Chris Manias and Dr Henry Miller for the valuable feedback and support throughout the thesis. I would also like to thank Professor David Bebbington for providing meticulously researched notes relating to religious profiling of Free Church MPs in 1906. Many thanks also to those who helped with the proof-reading including Moira Loizou, Dr Andros Loizou and Dr Matthew Fletcher of London. 9 Introduction: Research Objectives: A Revision in Politico-Religious History After the Liberal landslide of 1906 there were an estimated 210 nonconformist MPs in the House of Commons, over 190 of whom were Liberals.1 For the first time, nonconformists made up a numerical majority in the Liberal Party after centuries of political exclusion. Also, late nineteenth and early twentieth century nonconformity was marked by a ‘vibrant counter-culture’ emphasising the importance of community responsibility, as demonstrated by organizations such as the Christian Socialist Society.2 Considering the increasing vitality of nonconformity in terms of theological social doctrines and parliamentary membership, there is a call for a thorough study into the extent that New Liberalism can truly be attributed to provincial nonconformity. By examining the changing relationship of provincial nonconformity with the Liberal Party, from local studies to their role in Parliament between 1867 and 1914, this thesis presents an important revision in our understanding of nonconformity and how New Liberalism emerged. The chronology spans the period of popular Liberalism of the 1860s, which coincided with the growth of radical nonconformist local politics in Birmingham, to the onset of