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| Patronage Act 1711 | |
|---|---|
| Title | Patronage Act 1711 |
| Enacted | 1711 |
| Jurisdiction | Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Statute book chapter | 10 Anne c.8 |
| Repealed | partially repealed; fully repealed later |
Patronage Act 1711
The Patronage Act 1711 was an Act of Parliament passed during the reign of Anne of Great Britain by the Parliament of Great Britain that regulated ecclesiastical appointments and lay patron rights within the Church of England and related institutions. It emerged amid disputes involving prominent figures and institutions such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and landed patrons like the Duke of Marlborough and the Earl of Oxford. The measure intersected with controversies involving the Toleration Act 1689, the Glorious Revolution, and ongoing negotiations between Whig and Tory factions in Westminster.
The Act arose from petitions and disputes connecting families like the Seymour family, the FitzGerald family, and estates in counties such as Kent, Yorkshire, and Cornwall where advowson rights were contested. Debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords referenced precedents including the Statute of Praemunire 1392, the Act of Uniformity 1662, and decisions of the Court of King’s Bench and the Court of Common Pleas. Key actors included clerics like John Sharp (archbishop), parliamentarians like Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, and legal minds associated with the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple. The Act was debated amid wider ecclesiastical legislation such as measures involving the Commissioners for Building Fifty New Churches and reforms proposed after the Union with Scotland 1707.
The Act addressed the exercise of advowsons, distinguishing rights of lay patrons like the Earl of Derby and corporate patrons including the City of London and the University of Oxford from episcopal nominations by figures such as the Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Ely. Specific clauses referenced processes for presentation, nomination, and institution, invoking legal instruments familiar to practitioners at the Court of Chancery and citing remedies similar to those in the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533. It set time limits and procedural requirements that implicated officials of the Privy Council and officers like the Lord Chancellor and the Archdeacon of London, and it made provisions for disputes to be heard before judges associated with the Court of Exchequer and the Court of Delegates.
Implementation involved diocesan structures headed by the Archbishop of York and the Archbishop of Canterbury, parish institutions such as the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and educational patrons including the University of Cambridge and the Royal Society. Administration required the coordination of registrars in cathedrals like Canterbury Cathedral and St Paul’s Cathedral, as well as record-keeping by county gentry linked to manors in Surrey and Wiltshire. The enforcement mechanisms engaged officers of the Court of Quarter Sessions and solicitors from Inns of Court, while enforcement appeals were sometimes referred to commissions modeled on the Commissioners of Enquiry established in other Tudor and Stuart statutes.
Politically the Act affected alignments between Tory and Whig patrons, influencing elections in boroughs such as Rye and Winchelsea and intersecting with patronage practices used by figures like Sir Robert Walpole and Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough. Religiously it shaped clerical careers in dioceses overseen by bishops like Benjamin Hoadly and influenced the fortunes of religious societies including the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and the Clergy of the Church of England who navigated competing claims from Dissenting interests represented by leaders like William Whiston and institutions affected by the Nonconformist ministers debates. The Act also altered relationships between landed elites such as the Howard family and ecclesiastical authorities like Thomas Tenison.
Litigation under the Act reached the Court of King's Bench and the House of Lords on appeal, with counsel from legal luminaries associated with Lincoln's Inn and arguments invoking precedents from the Statute of Uses 1536 and decisions in Baconian jurisprudence. Subsequent statutory modifications referenced measures debated alongside the Septennial Act 1716 and later amended by parliamentary statutes during the reigns of George I of Great Britain and George II of Great Britain. Case law involving judges like Lord Chief Justice Holt and later adjudications in the Court of Appeal shaped the interpretation of presentation deadlines, remedies for wrongful presentation, and remedies involving sequestration and simony claims heard before ecclesiastical commissioners.
Parts of the Act were repealed progressively by reforming statutes in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, notably reforms influenced by commissions such as the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and legislation contemporaneous with the Reform Act 1832 and the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919. Its legacy is evident in modern rules on advowson reform, parish patronage adjustments overseen by the Crown and diocesan bodies, and historical studies by scholars associated with institutions like the Bodleian Library, the British Museum, and the National Archives (United Kingdom). The Act remains a reference point in examinations of patronage patterns that involved families such as the Cavendish family, the Percy family, and institutions including the Dean and Chapter of Westminster and the Royal Commission on Ecclesiastical Discipline.
Category:1711 in law Category:Church of England legislation Category:Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain 1711