Peerage and Clergy 1700s England

OpheliaRevived

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Could a peer of England also have been a member of the clergy in the late 1700's? I think we'd have to be talking about Church of England here as this particular character was in well with Prinny before he bacame George IV.
 

waylander

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If he was a younger son who went to the church because he had older brothers. He could easily end up a peer if the older siblings died without issue.
 

pdr

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Excuse me but...

just in case you don't know C of E was the only accepted religion in the 1700s. Catholics, Quakers etc were not legit and were banned from taking part in politics, local govt, legal, medical profs. Hence Quakers became noted for their business skills. Catholics kept quiet as they could still be had for treason.

It's not my era but I do believe that Catholics weren't 'legalised' until the 1860s or thereabouts.

edited to add:
The usual system was: Ist son was the heir of the family property, 2nd son went into the army or navy, 3rd son was the parson and received the livings which were on the family property!
 
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cooeedownunder

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I don't know about England but the first two official Catholic Priests arrived in 1819 and the boundaries for the first Catholic church laid in the early 1820s and completed around the same time the the fist Catholic Biship arrived in Australia around 1835

By the late 1820s Catholics were able to hold government positions.

Up until the arrival of the first official priests, Catholics here, either had to attend Protestant scripture or pratice their faith in private, although a few convict priest had previously been allowed to offer mass here.
 

firedrake

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just in case you don't know C of E was the only accepted religion in the 1700s. Catholics, Quakers etc were not legit and were banned from taking part in politics, local govt, legal, medical profs. Hence Quakers became noted for their business skills. Catholics kept quiet as they could still be had for treason.

It's not my era but I do believe that Catholics weren't 'legalised' until the 1860s or thereabouts.

edited to add:
The usual system was: Ist son was the heir of the family property, 2nd son went into the army or navy, 3rd son was the parson and received the livings which were on the family property!

Anthony Trollope's Barchester Chronicles are great novels for finding out how it all worked. Not only that, but they're brilliant books too.
 

OpheliaRevived

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*different question*

I need to add: I've nixed the clergy idea. It's ridiculous, anyway, and wouldn't serve the plot. This character needs something BIG to lose, as in everything. :) I need to find out what could constitute attainder. This character is an heirless, fatherless earl who does actively retain his seat in the House of Lords. It seems that High Treason is the only way for this to happen and be permanent. If you committed a lesser felony, the attainder could be temporary. ( 1year)
 

Sirius

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I need to add: I've nixed the clergy idea. It's ridiculous, anyway, and wouldn't serve the plot. This character needs something BIG to lose, as in everything. :) I need to find out what could constitute attainder. This character is an heirless, fatherless earl who does actively retain his seat in the House of Lords. It seems that High Treason is the only way for this to happen and be permanent. If you committed a lesser felony, the attainder could be temporary. ( 1year)

Depending when in the 1700s you've got two Jacobite rebellions (1715 and 1745)which led to a lot of treason trials, and the general climate of suspicion following them or there's the United Irishmen revolt (1798) or there's expressing dangerously pro-French views any time from 1789 onwards.

Also, for the benefit of people up-thread, the Catholic Emancipation Act was 1829. There was gradual easing of disabilities against Catholics during the later half of the 18th century, but there were definite periods in which sending one's children abroad for a Catholic education was a criminal offence.
 

firedrake

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I need to add: I've nixed the clergy idea. It's ridiculous, anyway, and wouldn't serve the plot. This character needs something BIG to lose, as in everything. :) I need to find out what could constitute attainder. This character is an heirless, fatherless earl who does actively retain his seat in the House of Lords. It seems that High Treason is the only way for this to happen and be permanent. If you committed a lesser felony, the attainder could be temporary. ( 1year)

If you want the character to live, High Treason might not be a good idea, I believe it was punishable by death.
 

Shakesbear

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An Act of Attainder declares someone guilty of a crime and is usually used by Parliament and bypasses a judge and jury. It was very like a death sentence – though in some cases death could be replaced by huge fines and loss of land and title. Prinny may have had enough influence to prevent a friend from being executed - but as he was incredibly unpopular and very selfish the chances of him doing something like that seems remote. I think the easiest way of being disgraced at theat time was to be found cheating at cards at one of the respectable clubs like Whites or Brookes's. Of couse he could be framed adn really be innocent.




The last beheading in England was in 1747; Lord Fraser of Lovat was executed for his part in Bonnie Prince Charlie's uprising.. When the last of the Stuart pretenders died in 1766 the Papacy recognized the Hanoverian rulers of England as legitimate and that let to the Catholic Relief Act of 1791. However it was not until that Catholic Relief Act of 1829 that Catholics were fully emancipated and could become members of Parliament and go to University.



The Barchester Chronicles were written sbout 1860 and do give a good view of the clergy. The TV series is brilliant!