Anniversary Days Observance Act 1859 Explained

Short Title:Anniversary Days Observance Act 1859
Type:Act
Parliament:Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long Title:An Act to repeal certain Acts and Parts of Acts which relate to the Observance of the Thirtieth of January and other Days.
Year:1859
Citation:22 Vict. c. 2
Royal Assent:25 March 1859
Repeal Date:1875
Repealing Legislation:Statute Law Revision Act 1875
Status:repealed

The Anniversary Days Observance Act 1859 (22 Vict. c. 2; formal long title An Act to repeal certain Acts and Parts of Acts which relate to the Observance of the Thirtieth of January and other Days) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which repealed several laws mandating "political services" or "state services": observance by the Church of England and Church of Ireland of certain anniversaries from 17th-century political history.

Provisions

The laws and observances abolished were specified by various Acts of the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, or Parliament of Ireland. These acts were repealed in full where they had no other purpose than establishing the relevant observance, and otherwise repealed only in relation to the observance.

Act Year passed Date observed Event commemorated
1605 5 November 1605 failure of the Gunpowder Plot. (From 1689, the prayer service also commemorated the landing of William of Orange at Brixham on 5 November 1688 at the start of the Glorious Revolution.[1])
12 Cha. 2 c. 14
13 Cha. 2 c. 7[2] 		1660 and 1661 29 May 1660 Restoration of the monarchy (Also Charles II's birthday in 1630.[3])

1660 and 1661 30 January
1750 5 November, As above
14 & 15 Car. 2 sess. 4 c. 1 (Irl.) 1662 29 May As above
1662 23 October 1641 Rebellion's failure to capture Dublin Castle

Legislative history

The political and religious aspects of Anglican identity began to separate after Catholic emancipation culminated in the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829.[4] In the 1850s, moves to increased religious toleration included the Liberty of Religious Worship Act 1855 and the Jews Relief Act 1858. These changes were reflected in June and July 1858,[5] when the House of Lords and House of Commons respectively passed resolutions making loyal addresses to Queen Victoria to remove certain "occasional forms of prayer" from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.[6] [7] [8] These prayers were re-specified by royal warrant after each new monarch's accession.[6] [9] The Crown agreed to consider the matter.[10] [11]

After some delay for legal advice, on 17 January 1859 the queen issued a new warrant removing the prayers.[12] However, the observances which the prayers fulfilled were mandated by various Acts of Parliament; so a bill, initially called the Occasional Forms of Prayer Bill, was introduced in February 1859 to repeal the provisions which were no longer being enforced.[13] [14] Whereas the 1858 petitions had related only to observances in the English Book of Common Prayer, the 1859 bill additionally deleted the 23 October prayer from the Irish Book of Common Prayer.[13] In the House of Lords the bill was renamed the Anniversary Days Observance Bill.[15] [16] It received royal assent on 25 March.[17]

The 1859 act was itself repealed as spent by the Statute Law Revision Act 1875.[18]

Criticism

In the House of Lords, the 1858 resolution was supported by most bishops;[8] [19] John Bird Sumner Archbishop of Canterbury and Archibald Campbell Tait, Samuel Wilberforce and Robert Daly (bishops of London, of Oxford, and of Cashel respectively) spoke in favour, while Christopher Bethell Bishop of Bangor opposed it.[7] The Anglo-Catholic liturgist Vernon Staley in 1907 described the deletions as ultra vires[20] because they were done without first obtaining the consent of the Convocations of Canterbury and York; he called them "a distinct violation of the compact between Church and Realm, as set forth in the Act of Uniformity which imposed the Book of Common Prayer in 1662".[21]

See also

References

Sources

Primary:
Secondary:

Citations

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Society of Archbishop Justus. Variations in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The Gunpowder Treason service (for 5 Nov.) was revised in 1690 to include a commemoration of the landing of William III. 5 November 2016.
  2. This Act confirmed the observance established by the earlier Act(s).
  3. Book: The Book of Common Prayer: From the Original Manuscript Attached to the Act of Uniformity of 1662 and Now Preserved in the House of Lords. https://archive.org/stream/BookOfCommonPrayer#page/n41/mode/1up. 1892. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 30. Tables, and Rules for the Moveable and Jmmoveable Feasts; together with The daies of Fasting and Abstinence through the whole year. London. The 29. day of May, being the day of the birth, and return of King Charles the second..
  4. Lacey 2003, p.243
  5. Prior. David. July 2005. Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November. History Today. In 1859, in an atmosphere of growing religious toleration, the 1606 Act was abolished.. 55. 7. 4–5. 5 November 2016.
  6. Web site: 28 June 1858. Political services of the Church of England. Motion for address.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171216091745/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1858/jun/28/motion-for-address. 2017-12-16. 5 November 2016. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). HL Deb vol 151 cc475-9. y.
  7. Web site: 28 June 1858. Political services of the Church of England. [resumed]]. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171216154636/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1858/jun/28/political-services-of-the-church-of-1. 2017-12-16. 5 November 2016. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). HL Deb vol 151 cc481-503. y.
  8. Web site: 13 July 1858. The church services. Address moved.. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171216091639/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1858/jul/13/address-moved. 2017-12-16. 5 November 2016. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). HC Deb vol 151 cc1392-4. y.
  9. Staley 1907, p.73
  10. Web site: Political services of the Church of England. The Queen's answer to address.. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). HL Deb vol 151 c691. y. 1 July 1858. 5 November 2016.
  11. Web site: Occasional forms of prayer. Answer to address.. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). HC Deb vol 151 cc1604-5. y. 16 July 1858. 5 November 2016.
  12. 18 January 1859. Whitehall, January 17, 1859.. The London Gazette. 22220. 161. 5 November 2016.
  13. Web site: Occasional forms of prayer. Acts considered in committee. Bill presented. Read 1°.. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). HC Deb vol 152 cc117-8. y. 4 February 1859. 5 November 2016.
  14. Web site: Occasional forms of prayer bill. Second reading.. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). HC Deb vol 152 cc148-50. y. 7 February 1859. 5 November 2016.
  15. Web site: Occasional forms of prayer bill. Second reading.. 25 February 1859. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). HL Deb vol 152 cc850–3. y. 5 November 2016.
  16. Web site: Minutes.. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). HL Deb vol 153 c1. y. Public bills.— [...] 3a Anniversary Days Observance, formerly Occasional Forms of Prayer. 11 March 1859. 5 November 2016.
  17. Web site: Minutes. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Public bills.— [...] Royal Assent.— [...] Anniversary Days Observance. HL Deb vol 153 c792. y. 25 March 1859. 5 November 2016.
  18. Web site: Statute Law Revision Act 1875 [38 & 39 Vict c 66]]. 11 August 1875. Irish Statute Book. Schedule. y. 5 November 2016.
  19. Lacey 2003, pp.244–245
  20. Staley 1907, p.77
  21. Staley 1907, p.76

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