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The Presbyterian Response to the Famine Years 1845 to 1855 Within Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland

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The Presbyterian Response to the Famine Years 1845 to 1855 Within Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland Stephen, John Rothney (2011) The Presbyterian response to the famine years 1845 to 1855 within Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland. MLitt(R) thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3311/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] The Presbyterian response to the famine years 1845 to 1855 within Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland A thesis presented to the School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Letters by John Rothney Stephen Matriculation number 8637721 December 2011 i I declare that this thesis is entirely the product of my own work, except where indicated, and has not been submitted by myself or any other person for any degree at this or any other university or college. (Sgd.) ……………………………………… December 10, 2011. ii Abstract The aim of this research is to determine the extent to which the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and its historical offshoot, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, responded to the challenge presented by the humanitarian catastrophe that arose to variable extents from the social, economic and political conditions prevalent in both countries during the famine crisis period from 1845 until 1855. The major victims were the landless unemployed existing at subsistence level or below. The prime method of research has been to focus upon surviving Church records covering sample parishes within the two geographical areas, namely, the Scottish Highlands and Islands and the four provinces of Ireland: Ulster, Leinster, Connaught and Munster. Each area will be shown to exhibit broadly divergent social and economic structures overlaid by devotional differences. Apart from the plethora of original Church and civil materials available in national archives, libraries and regional museums, research has been focussed on conventional sources for the church historian. These include the Acts of the General Assemblies, synod, presbytery and Kirk session records, statistical accounts, decennial census returns, contemporary national and local press reports, emigrant-ship passenger lists, memoirs, letters, published diaries, parish local histories and general literature. A debt is owed to earlier chroniclers and where resort has been made to published sources these have been acknowledged in chapter feet-notes. Religion played a significant role in shaping both private and public responses to the relief of the destitute. Yet, the conclusion must remain that the Presbyterian Churches were just one of the relief agencies that met the challenge of debilitating effects resulting from acute material scarcity within parishes from 1845, responding with vigour and compassion from the outset. Within the Scottish Highlands, for example, the Free Church of Scotland was foremost, providing both spiritual and material support to the population until civil authorities assumed the latter role. Thereafter, the Church remained an instrument of supervision and control over material distribution in conjunction with statutory local committees. In the long term, the spiritual and material support the Presbyterian Church afforded to impoverished families of all denominations and none, burdened with malnutrition, contagious disease, death and emigration, was an outstanding example of Christian service that proved assured at home and transportable with the dispossessed emigrants to their new abode overseas. The suggestion is that the strength of Presbyterian endeavour during the challenging famine years of the mid-nineteenth- century lay not just in external piety, but also in the committed Christian faith and practical witness of its communicants. iii Table of Contents Abstract i Table of Contents ii Acknowledgements vi Tables vii Figures viii Illustrations ix Abbreviations x Chapters Chapter 1 - Introduction to the structure of mid-nineteenth-century Presbyterianism 1.1 - Parameters of research 1 1.2 - Research aim to be achieved 3 1.2.1 - Research method pursued 4 1.3 - Limitations of Presbyterian Church records 5 1.3.1 - Character of Presbyterian Church records 6 1.3.2 - Introduction to the Workhouse system records 7 1.4 - Nature and circumstances of the Great Famine 8 1.5 - Perceived ascendency of the middle-class Presbyterian 9 1.6 - Presbyterian Church famine relief measures in perspective 14 1.7 - United Kingdom leadership during the 1845 to 1855 famine period 16 1.8 - Structure of the research thesis 18 Chapter 2 - Structure of the mid-nineteenth-century Presbyterian Church 2.1 - Presbyterian model in Church government 21 2.2 - The Established Church of Scotland 23 2.2.1 - The Free Church of Scotland 24 2.2.2 - The United Presbyterian Church 27 2.2.3 - Numerical strength of Presbyterianism in 1851 Scotland 28 2.3 - The Presbyterian Church of Ireland 28 2.3.1 - The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (or Covenanters) 29 2.3.2 - The Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland (or Unitarians) 29 2.3.3 - Presbyterian relations with the Church of Ireland 30 2.4 - The Established Church of Ireland 30 2.4.1 - The Episcopal Church in Scotland 31 2.4.2 - Non-conformist churches in Ireland and Scotland 32 2.5 - Sectarian conflict in mid-nineteenth-century Britain 32 2.5.1 - Reformed denominations in mid-1840’s famine years 34 iv Chapter 3 - Introduction to prevailing mid-nineteenth-century attitudes to Britain’s relief provision during periods of scarcity 3.1 - Philosophical dogma dominant within mid-nineteenth-century British government 35 3.1.1 - Presbyterians and the Protestant work ethic 38 3.2 - Popular perception of the Celtic peoples 39 3.3 - Demographic increase in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth- century Europe 41 3.4 - Social and economic conditions within mid-nineteenth-century United Kingdom 43 3.5 - Scarcity – a perennial global hazard 45 3.5.1 - Operation of the Corn Laws 47 3.5.2 - Hazards of monoculture; the potato as a staple diet 49 3.6 - Private initiatives in charitable provision 50 3.7 - Government model for famine relief measures 53 3.8 - The Workhouse as a centre for care and deterrence 55 3.8.1 - Central government relief initiatives in the Scottish Highlands 57 3.8.2 - Central government relief initiatives in Ireland 58 3.9 - Migration and emigration as a panacea for destitution 59 Chapter 4 - Presbyterianism within the Reformed Church structure 4.1 - Historical perspective of Presbyterianism 61 4.2 - Establishment claims – Episcopalian or Presbyterian? 62 4.3 - The Presbyterian model in Church government 64 4.4 - Origins of the parish 66 4.5 - Established Presbyterian Church building 67 4.5.1 - Established Presbyterian Church extension in the Highlands 71 4.5.2 - Highland Sabbatarianism 72 4.6 - Social class of Presbyterian congregations 72 4.7 - The Presbyterian Church in Ireland 75 Chapter 5 - Practical aspects of nineteenth-century Presbyterian witness 5.1 - Fiscal arrangements within the Presbyterian Church 78 5.1.1 - Expenditure from Presbyterian Church funds 81 5.2 - Patronage in the Kirk 83 5.2.1 - Moderatism in the Kirk 85 5.2.2 - Evangelical Presbyterianism in the Kirk 86 5.3 - Education in the Reformed Church 90 5.3.1 - Education as a political expedient 91 5.3.2 - Education as a religious expedient 93 5.3.3 - The Free Church of Scotland education policy in the Highlands 97 5.3.4 - The Connaught schools of the Rev. Dr. John Edgar 99 5.4 - Education in Ireland 100 v Chapter 6 - Cultural, social and economic structures in mid-nineteenth- century Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland 6.1 - Decline of a pastoral society 103 6.2 - Popular perception of the Celtic peoples 106 6.3 - Demographic increase and social pressure 107 6.4 - Landlord and tenant relationships 109 6.5 - The Industrial Revolution and its impact 113 6.6 - The Agricultural Revolution and its impact on land tenure 115 6.6.1 - Farming structures in mid-nineteenth-century society 117 6.6.2 - Irish landowners and the conacre system 120 6.7 - Patterns of destitution 123 6.8. - Crofters, cotters and lotters 125 6.8.1 - The crofter-fisherman as economic slave in cash economy 127 6.8.2 - The potato as a subsistence crop worldwide 128 6.9 - Emigration - a final solution? 131 Chapter 7 - Presbyterian response to mid-nineteenth-century Highland famine 7.1 - The Established Church of Scotland famine relief policy 137 7.1.1 - Adversity as chastisement by the Lord 138 7.2 - The Church and the Scottish Poor Law of 1845 140 7.3 - The Free Church of Scotland provision for the needy 141 7.4 - The Free Church Committee on Highland Destitution 143 7.5 - The Home Mission Committee of the Free Church of Scotland 145 7.6 - Resolutions of the Free Church General Committee on Highland Destitution 147 7.7 - The Free Church schooner Breadalbane 148 7.8 - The Central Board of Management for Highland Relief 149 7.9 - Directed out-movement of Highland labour 151 7.10 - Emigration and the Scottish Churches 153 Chapter 8 - Presbyterian response to mid-nineteenth-century famine in Ireland 8.1 - Paucity of Church
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