Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY A comparative study of the High Church party in the dioceses of Chester and Bangor between 1688 and 1715. Wood, Craig David Award date: 2002 Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 09. Oct. 2021 A Comparative Study of the High Church Party in the Dioceses of Chester and Bangor between 1688 and 1715 Craig David Wood i U.wem. v' ,,,. r>> . ýýYý_, 'd *************** ********************************************* ****** The following material has been excluded from the digitised copy due to 3`d Party Copyright restrictions: NONE Readers may consult the original thesis if they wish to see this material ***************** **************************ý********************* A Comparative Study of the High Church Party in the Dioceses of Chester and Bangor between 1688 and 1715 A Definition of High Churchmanship According to Diocesan Consensus Modern scholarship defines High Churchmanship as a distinct and partisan branch of the Anglican Church in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially in the context of religious intrigues in the houses of civil and church government in London. Throughout the period between the Revolution of 1688 and the accession of the House of Hanover in 1715, the High Church party are commonly associated with the political Tories and are deemed as those who supported the exiled Stuart dynasty and engaged in intrigues toward deposing King William III, undermining Queen Anne and opposing the succession of King George I. In a religious context the High Church party are accepted as having been actively engaged in opposing religious Dissent, and in seeking to secure legislative censure against the Dissenters. They are perceived as a branch of the Church who sought to preserve some elements of Roman Catholic tradition within the Church of England, and actions such as bowing toward the altar and kneeling at receipt of Communion are espoused as indicative of High Church affiliation, as is the arrangement of church furniture, and particularly the positioning of the Communion Table. By considering two specific dioceses, Bangor and Chester, both of which are a sufficient distance from London not to be shaped instantly or directly by events in Convocation or Parliament, this study will examine what High Churchmanship meant to the clerics, prelates and laity of two very different dioceses at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. In doing so, it will also seek to establish how High Churchmanship survived as a distinct standpoint in the period between 1688 and 1715 as other religious viewpoints, such as Jacobitism and the Nonjuring stance, overlapped the High Church position, and the will assess extent to which this stance was an organised, partisan one. V List of Tables List of Appendices vi Preface vii Acknowledgements viii 1 Defining High Churchmanship 1 The Appeal to History 4 9 The High Churchmen of the Seventeenth Century The High Church Group 13 2 The Nonjuror Schism 17 The Deposition of James II and the accession 18 of William and Mary 24 Schism among the High Churchmen The Nonjuror Wilderness 29 3 The High Church Party after the Schism 33 Britain Under William and Mary 34 Comprehension and Toleration 38 The Convocation Controversies 43 King William and the Commission for Preferments 48 4 The Reign of Queen Anne 54 The Accession and Succession of Queen Anne 55 The Convocation Disputes under Queen Anne 60 The Church of England under Queen Anne 63 5 Evidence for a High Church Consensus in the dioceses of Bangor and Chester 74 Doctrinally Reconciling the Revolution 76 The Effect of Division on Practice 89 The Effect of Division on Doctrine 94 The Practical Expression of Division 99 6 Clerical Responses to Divisions and Political Developments in the dioceses of Bangor and Chester 105 The New Enemy of the Noniurors and the Old Enemy of Popery 106 High Church Reactions to Toleration of Dissenters 115 Clerical Reaction to Henry Sacheverell, the Succession of King George I and the riots of 1715 122 7 Lay Evidence of the Existance of a High Church Consensus within the dioceses of Bangor and Chester 137 Lay Tory, Noncon formist and Jacobite Affinities 138 Lay involvement in the Riots of 1715 159 Lay Affiliation to the High Church Standpoint 162 8 Redefining High Churchmanship 170 Appendix A ix List of References xv Bibliography Map 1x Towns mentioned in a National Context Map 2 xi Towns mentioned in Wales Map 3 xii Towns mentioned in England ! 'aP 4 xiii Areas mentioned around Preston Maps drawn by Philip Horrocks. ýý a vo 0 :t ý ý, SS(ý j"111.E6 .. wNDDyFNAI MEWAI B&AVMARIG "BANGOP 1 OLEN *CAERNWON"LLMDDCJN, )MACHWO .P LLANFyL1-I 1, J C MAPa 1Uii -s k23 0 3 P1it- ES ri MAP-6 k i« i e 3 pf lti- Effa OIJALLfy ,2fß o CLAL -/DoP, ' ALTI+A' PREST©,J 0 KuL PCIVORN 0 ýTANß15H " WICAN MAP 4- Appendix 1 ix List of the Bishops of Bangor and Chester Dioceses 1688-1715 In seeking to reach a definition of High Churchmanship contemporary to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this study will begin by considering the background of the High Church standpoint, with reference to the history of the Church of England from the Reformation. It will then outline the tumultuous nature of the reign of King James II and examine the reasons for his downfall, and continue to consider the responses of Anglican clerics in a national and diocesan context, with the use of both primary and secondary material. This will involve consideration of issues like the settlement of the succession in the House of Hanover, the preservation of the Church and its offices, and support of both the Revolution and the Stuart cause. Focusing on religious, temporal and lay reaction alike, the latter half of the study will then consider primary evidence gathered from original research to determine the extent to which High Churchmanship, as manifest in the dioceses Bangor Chester, of and was similar in its emphases to the and priorities national picture depicted by events in London. In so doing it will seek to redefine the term "High Churchmanship", and consider the validity of applying national evidence to a parochial society. Every thesis must begin with a lengthy list of people to whom an enormous debt of gratitude is owed, and this one is no exception. On an academic level, my thanks are owed to all the staff at the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the University Of Wales, Bangor, including Dr Densil Morgan for guidance in the early stages of the thesis, and more especially to my supervisor, Dr Geraint Tudur, for his continued advice and support. Dr Tony Claydon of the School of History and Welsh History also deserves recognition for his early assistance. The staff of all the libraries and depositories that I visited are also due my sincere thanks. Those at; the Archive Department of Central Library, Manchester, Chethams Library, Manchester, and especially Barbara and Tony Meehan for making my introduction to the library so easy, John Rylands Library, Manchester, the Lancashire County Records Office, Preston, Lambeth Palace Library, London, the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, the Local History Library, Salford and the Archives and Manuscripts Department at the University of Wales, Bangor. Also those libraries who replied to my initial enquiries with such speed and courtesy, including the Archive Library, Canterbury and Gwynedd County Records Office, Caernarfon. Personally I owe a massive debt to numerous friends for their patience, tolerance and feigned interest, especially Phil Horrocks, Ian Simmonds, Emma Moore, Justin Barrass and Sarah Kelly. Special mention ought to be made of Niamh O'Neill, Lisa Major, Emma Garner and Ian Robinson for their assisting me in surviving London, and Bob Gillatt for his endless supplies of letters which helped combat loneliness in Aberystwyth. Mavis and Owen Von Blydenstein and all the friends I made through them in Bangor, also deserve my special thanks for ensuring that I devoted suitable time to play, as well as to work. Special mention must also be made of the people who have bravely borne the spectre of sharing a house with a PhD student; Graeme Edwards, Rob Jones, James Garside, Thomas and Taka, Dorothy Harkin and all of the San Marino Community who made me feel so welcome in London, and last but by no means least Carys Alwen Jones, Angharad Hughes, Jon Hughes and Clifford Tonios. As always though, my greatest debt of gratitude is to my parents, Chris and Dave, and my brother Mark, without whose continued support, love and humour this thesis would never have seen the light of day. All of those mentioned here have been more of a support than they can ever know. Defining High Churchnanship. The High Church party of the period 1688 to 1715 was a discordant body whose coherence varied according to the behaviour, systems of beliefs, doctrinal allegiances and political affiliations of its individual adherents.