{"id":16656,"date":"2025-04-13T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/?p=16656"},"modified":"2025-04-10T10:20:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T09:20:38","slug":"catholics-in-the-commons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2025\/04\/13\/catholics-in-the-commons\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholics in the Commons after emancipation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today (13 April) marks the anniversary of the Roman Catholic Relief Act gaining royal assent in 1829, which removed many of the barriers restricting Roman Catholics from sitting in Parliament. However, as Dr Philip Salmon<\/a> of the Victorian Commons<\/a> explores, hostility to Catholics continued despite their emancipation …<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may seem surprising to some that popular anti-Catholic sentiment continued to flourish in the decades after Catholic emancipation (1829). But although this major reform ended 151 years of Catholics being formally excluded from the Commons, it was not conceived out of a mood of religious toleration. Instead, it was primarily a tactical response to events in Ireland, where Daniel O\u2019Connell\u2019s<\/a> Catholic Association had created an army of Catholic voters willing to do his bidding. By allowing Irish Catholics to sit as MPs, but at the same time severely restricting the number of Irish voters, the Tory government led by the Duke of Wellington aimed to avert civil unrest in Ireland, whilst also dismantling O\u2019Connell\u2019s electoral powerbase.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/a>
Daniel O’Connell; Bernard Mulrenin (1836); \u00a9 National Portrait Gallery, London<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For many staunch Anglicans the influx of a new breed of Irish Catholic MPs was a high price to pay for silencing O\u2019Connell, who in any case soon began a new campaign for Ireland to leave the Union. For Irish Protestants, in particular, the presence of Irish Catholics was complete anathema, threatening both the position of the Irish Established Church and the \u2018Protestant ascendancy\u2019 of the Irish landed ruling elite. Furious clashes between these two groups, over virtually every aspect of Irish policy, helped infuse the Victorian Commons with an almost daily dose of sectarian conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
Catholic Emancipation Act (1829)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The curious position of English Catholics is often lost sight of in all of this, not least because of the way Irish affairs tended to dominate Victorian attitudes to Catholicism. But in many respects the prospect of English Catholic MPs sitting for English constituencies, at the heart of the Protestant nation, was even more of a threat to the Protestant constitution than Irish Catholic MPs representing predominantly Catholic constituencies. Where would the loyalties of such English Catholics lie, with their constituents or their creed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These kinds of questions were never far away when Catholics stood for election in England, as some of our recently completed biographies have shown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1832 Thomas Stonor of Stonor Park, whose ancestors were some of Oxfordshire\u2019s most prominent recusants, became one of just five Catholic MPs to be returned for an English constituency at the general election. His election for Oxford was, as one commentator suggested, \u2018extraordinary\u2019 given the city\u2019s well-known antipathy to Catholic emancipation. Indeed, historic graffiti against Robert Peel<\/a>, the Home secretary responsible for passing emancipation, can still be seen in Oxford’s colleges today. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A
‘No Peel’ graffiti at Oxford University \u00a9 Philip Salmon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Speaking at his victory dinner, Stonor went out of his way to allay fears that he would \u2018confederate with the Irish demagogues in their diabolical endeavours to revolutionize the kingdom\u2019. He also looked forward to proving \u2018that a Catholic was not necessarily an enemy to the establishment\u2019. Stonor barely had time to take his seat, however, before he was unseated on petition for corrupt practices that were endemic in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stonor\u2019s short-lived triumph in 1832 was unusual. The kind of reception more commonly encountered by Catholic candidates was amply demonstrated when he decided to stand for the county in 1837. Placards with \u2018Will Oxfordshire add another joint to O\u2019Connell\u2019s tail?\u2019, and \u2018No farmers\u2019 friend can vote for Stonor, the Papist\u2019, set the tone for what became a highly charged campaign. After he was defeated at the bottom of the poll, the local Tory paper rejoiced that \u2018Protestant feelings are triumphant in this county\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"An<\/a>
Extract from an Oxfordshire Address, 1837<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The additional difficulties faced by English Catholic MPs (as opposed to their Irish counterparts) were perhaps nowhere better illustrated than when a sitting Anglican chose to convert. When John Simeon, Liberal MP for the Isle of Wight, adopted the Roman Catholic faith in 1851, he resigned his seat, believing that he had forfeited the electoral mandate given to him \u2018whilst he was a member of the Anglican church\u2019. When Edward Hutchins, Liberal MP for Lymington, refused to do the same after \u2018embracing Rome\u2019 five years later, he caused a political scandal. \u2018Such conduct is an abuse of the representative principle\u2019 since he \u2018is no longer the same man\u2019, protested one local paper. \u2018That Mr Hutchins was returned to Parliament by Protestants, will scarcely be denied\u2019, remarked another observer. \u2018As a Romanist, then, he is in a false position and it behoves the constituency to call upon the recusant to resign\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given these kinds of sentiments in the English constituencies, one of the more surprising features to emerge from our ongoing work on the Victorian Commons is the intellectual attraction that Roman Catholicism was still able to exert over an entire generation of English MPs, many of whom, even if they didn\u2019t convert, clearly came pretty close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To obtain access to our recent articles, including those referred to above, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an updated version of an article originally published on the Victorian Commons website<\/a> on 5 November 2014, written by Dr Philip Salmon<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today (13 April) marks the anniversary of the Roman Catholic Relief Act gaining royal assent in 1829, which removed many of the barriers restricting Roman Catholics from sitting in Parliament. However, as Dr Philip Salmon of the Victorian Commons explores, hostility to Catholics continued despite their emancipation … It may seem surprising to some that popular anti-Catholic sentiment continued to flourish in the decades after … Continue reading Catholics in the Commons after emancipation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37925350,"featured_media":16661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[124494893,4706867,774275541,48731,774275561],"tags":[518007,13477904,8395919,35890,182226],"class_list":["post-16656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-victorian-commons","category-19th-century-history","category-irish-history","category-religious-history","category-victorian","tag-anti-catholicism","tag-catholic-emancipation","tag-daniel-oconnell","tag-featured","tag-oxfordshire"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/stonor-1837.jpg?fit=899%2C477&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2QYNW-4kE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1291,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2016\/08\/17\/party-splits-and-political-change-in-the-19th-century\/","url_meta":{"origin":16656,"position":0},"title":"Party splits and political change in the 19th century","author":"Philip Salmon","date":"August 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This summer, following the internal wrangling that occurred in most parties following the Brexit referendum, we've been taking a look at historic cases of party division. In today's blog, Dr Philip Salmon, Editor of the Victorian Commons, discusses the impact of two major splits within the Tory and Conservative parties\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Victorian Commons"","block_context":{"text":"Victorian Commons","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/sections\/victorian-commons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Holding-Featured-Image-4.jpeg?fit=1200%2C658&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Holding-Featured-Image-4.jpeg?fit=1200%2C658&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Holding-Featured-Image-4.jpeg?fit=1200%2C658&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Holding-Featured-Image-4.jpeg?fit=1200%2C658&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Holding-Featured-Image-4.jpeg?fit=1200%2C658&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2177,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2018\/02\/22\/bishops-and-popular-opinion-in-the-era-of-catholic-emancipation-and-the-reform-bill\/","url_meta":{"origin":16656,"position":1},"title":"Bishops and Popular Opinion in the Era of Catholic Emancipation and the Reform Bill","author":"History of Parliament","date":"February 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's post is a guest blog from PhD candidate Nicholas Dixon of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. Nicholas shares this blog on the back of his paper from the 'Parliaments and Popular Sovereignty: Political Representation in the British world, 1640-1886'\u00a0conference. The History of Parliament\u00a0organised this event in partnership with Durham\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "19th Century history"","block_context":{"text":"19th Century history","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/centuries\/19th-century-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2300,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2018\/04\/12\/parliament-and-popular-sovereignty-in-the-nineteenth-century\/","url_meta":{"origin":16656,"position":2},"title":"Event review: Parliament and Popular Sovereignty in the nineteenth century, 22 March 2018.","author":"History of Parliament","date":"April 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today\u2019s blog is a summary of our afternoon event about Parliament and Popular Sovereignty in the nineteenth century, which was held before Easter at the Palace of Westminster \u2026 On \u00a022 March 2018 the History of Parliament hosted an event in the Jubilee Room at the Palace of Westminster entitled,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Victorian"","block_context":{"text":"Victorian","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/periods\/victorian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2807,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2019\/02\/26\/william-bankes-mp-1786-1855\/","url_meta":{"origin":16656,"position":3},"title":"From celebrity to outcast: William Bankes MP (1786-1855)","author":"Philip Salmon","date":"February 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's blog is the second of three posts to celebrate LGBT+ History Month. In this blog we hear from Dr Philip Salmon, Editor of the House of Commons 1832-1868 project, about William Bankes who fled the country to avoid prosecution for homosexual offences ... William Bankes was one of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social history"","block_context":{"text":"Social history","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/topics\/social-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/bankes-alt.jpg?fit=471%2C557&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":994,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2015\/06\/18\/mps-and-waterloo\/","url_meta":{"origin":16656,"position":4},"title":"MPs and Waterloo","author":"Philip Salmon","date":"June 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"To mark today's anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, Dr Philip Salmon, Editor of the Victorian Commons, explores the impact of the battle's veterans on the House of Commons... As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, much of the focus inevitably centres on the duke of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Victorian Commons"","block_context":{"text":"Victorian Commons","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/sections\/victorian-commons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/horace-seymour-mp-with-his-waterloo-medal.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4251,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2020\/03\/03\/georgian-delights-life-during-the-reign-of-george-iv-exhibition-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":16656,"position":5},"title":"Exhibition review: Georgian Delights: Life during the Reign of George IV exhibition review","author":"stuart03630ebada","date":"March 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week Senior Research Fellow on the House of Lords 1715-90 project, Dr Stuart Handley, headed off on a field trip to the University of Nottingham to view Manuscripts and Special Collections' current exhibition about life during the reign of George IV. 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