Religious Statistics in Great Britain: an Historical Introduction
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BRIN Discussion Series on Religious Statistics Discussion Paper 001 Religious Statistics in Great Britain: An Historical Introduction Clive D. Field Universities of Birmingham and Manchester November 2009 Copyright © University of Manchester, 2009 The right of Clive Douglas Field to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2010 by the University of Manchester British Religion in Numbers Institute for Social Change 2.13 Humanities Bridgeford Street University of Manchester Oxford Road Manchester M13 9PL All rights reserved. Except for the printing and electronic storage of a single copy for private non- commercial use, and quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Religious Statistics in Great Britain: An Historical Introduction Clive D. Field ___________________________________________________________________________________ Contents Scope..............................................................................................................................1 1. Statistics Collected by the State .................................................................................2 1.1 Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries............................................................2 1.2 Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries...............................................3 1.3 Recent Developments................................................................................7 Notes to Section 1 ................................................................................................10 2. Statistics Collected by Faith Communities ..............................................................12 2.1 Established Churches: Church of England..............................................12 2.2 Established Churches: Wales and Scotland.............................................15 2.3 Free Churches: General...........................................................................16 2.4 Free Churches: Methodists ......................................................................18 2.5 Free Churches: Baptists, Congregationalists and Quakers......................20 2.6 Free Churches: Other Denominations ....................................................22 2.7 Roman Catholic Church: Before the Second World War.......................23 2.8 Roman Catholic Church: After the Second World War.........................25 2.9 Ecumenical Initiatives: National..............................................................28 2.10 Ecumenical Initiatives: International.......................................................31 2.11 Non-Christian Faiths: General ................................................................32 2.12 Non-Christian Faiths: Judaism ................................................................33 2.13 Irreligion ..................................................................................................35 Notes to Section 2 ................................................................................................36 3. Statistics Collected by Other Agencies ....................................................................42 3.1 Social Investigators ..................................................................................42 3.2 Opinion Pollsters......................................................................................43 3.3 Academic Researchers.............................................................................44 3.4 Print and Broadcast Media......................................................................47 Notes to Section 3 ................................................................................................50 4. Future Needs and Prospects for Religious Statistics ................................................53 Notes to Section 4 ................................................................................................56 Appendix 1...................................................................................................................57 Select Bibliography of the Religious History of Modern Britain.........................57 General.................................................................................................................57 Church of England...............................................................................................58 Free Churches......................................................................................................58 Roman Catholicism .............................................................................................58 Sects .....................................................................................................................59 Judaism.................................................................................................................59 Islam.....................................................................................................................59 New Religious Movements ..................................................................................59 Irreligion ..............................................................................................................59 Wales....................................................................................................................59 Scotland ...............................................................................................................59 Appendix 2...................................................................................................................60 Recent Publications on the 1851 Religious Census of England and Wales ........60 General Commentaries........................................................................................60 Local Studies........................................................................................................61 Appendix 3...................................................................................................................64 Contemporary Regional Studies of Religion as Social Capital in England and Wales....................................................................................................................64 Appendix 4...................................................................................................................66 Church of England Clergy Visitation Returns of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries..............................................................................................................66 Primary Sources: Editions of Returns..................................................................66 Primary Sources: Editions of Specula..................................................................67 Secondary Sources: Visitation Process.................................................................68 Secondary Sources: Use of Returns.....................................................................69 Appendix 5...................................................................................................................70 Abraham Hume’s Contribution to Religious Statistics and Sociology................70 Appendix 6...................................................................................................................74 Local Censuses of Church Attendance in Great Britain, 1881-82 ......................74 Appendix 7...................................................................................................................82 Newman Demographic Survey and Pastoral Research Centre...........................82 Appendix 8...................................................................................................................87 John Highet’s Contribution to Scottish Religious Statistics.................................87 Appendix 9...................................................................................................................89 Local Censuses of Church Attendance in Great Britain, 1901-12 ......................89 Scope This essay summarizes the development of religious statistics in Great Britain from the seventeenth century to the present day. In particular, it describes, in very broad and succinct terms, the contributions which have been made to the quantification of religion by the state, faith communities and other agencies. A few reflections on future needs and prospects are also offered. The review does not aspire to be comprehensive, in the sense of covering all the sources or all the collecting bodies. Neither does it attempt to discuss methodological and interpretative issues in any depth, nor to present the actual primary data (some of which will be found elsewhere on this website). The text is designed to be used in conjunction with the database on this website, where additional bibliographical and methodological information will be found on the overwhelming majority of the individual sources which are mentioned here. For this reason, endnotes in each section have been kept to a minimum, both as regards number and length. To avoid encumbering the overview with excessive detail, a few topics calling for extended treatment, and which do not lend themselves to inclusion in the database, are dealt with in appendices.