Ministers' money explained

Ministers' money was a tax payable by householders in certain cities and towns in Ireland to fund the local Church of Ireland minister.[1] [2] It was introduced in 1665,[3] modified in 1827,[4] and abolished in 1857.[5] The cities and towns affected were Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Clonmel, and Kinsale.[2] It was levied as a rate of up to one shilling in the pound (i.e. 5%) on the property's rateable value. The valuation, to a maximum of £60, was done by commissioners appointed by the Lord Lieutenant.[2] Churchwardens appointed by the local minister collected ministers' money on the quarter days: Christmas, Lady Day, St John's Day, and Michaelmas.[2] The 1689 Irish Parliament, which the Catholic James II summoned during the Williamite War, abolished minister's money;[6] after James lost the war, William and Mary's 1695 Parliament annulled the 1689 one.[7] A 1723 act[8] provided that, in Dublin, the same valuation could be used both for ministers' money and for calculating cess, a separate local rate used for public works and poor relief.[9] [10] Thereafter, cess rates were often expressed in terms of pence per shilling of minister's money.

Ministers' money was resented because it was a regressive tax and applied only in towns with a Catholic majority.[11] In rural areas, tithes were a similar grievance, and the 1830s Tithe War ended when the Tithe Commutation Act 1838 replaced tithes with "tithe-rentcharges"; but this did not apply to ministers' money. Church rate, separate from ministers' money and tithes, was abolished by Church Temporalities Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 37). Another grievance was that the valuations for ministers' money were done infrequently and might not reflect recent improvements or decline in the property or its neighbourhood.[9] An 1838 proposal by Daniel O'Connell to bring ministers' money into the terms of the Irish Poor Law was withdrawn.[12] An 1848 committee of the Commons recommended its abolition, and motions to that effect were proposed by MPs Francis Murphy (1842[13] and 1844[14]) and William Trant Fagan (six times 1847–54).[15] A petition of Cork residents was laid on the table of the Lords in 1846.[16] In 1854, Sir John Young, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, introduced an Act[17] which reduced the rated charge by one quarter and charged the municipal authority (borough corporation or town commissioners) rather than the minister with collecting it.[18] The Ecclesiastical Commissioners of Ireland forwarded the money from the municipality to the minister, making up the reduction from its own funds.[18] In 1857, Fagan and Francis Beamish introduced a private member's bill, which was successfully enacted, to replace ministers' money with a direct subvention of ministers by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.[5] [19] Some members of the Church of Ireland objected to the act as confiscation of church property, and saw it as a prelude to disestablishment, which eventually came under the Irish Church Act 1869.[18]

Sources

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Power. T. P.. 1987. A Minister's Money Account for Clonmel, 1703. Analecta Hibernica. The Irish Manuscripts Commission. 34. 185. 25512011.
  2. Book: Thom's Statistics of Ireland. 20 November 2014. 1853. Alexander Thom. 271.
  3. Book: Ireland. Statutes Passed in the Parliaments Held in Ireland. https://books.google.com/books?id=QYFRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA150. 20 November 2014. II: 1665-1712. 1794. George Grierson, printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. 150–153. 17th and 18th Charles II., c. 7: An Act for Provision of Ministers in Cities, Corporate Towns and making the Church of St. Andrews, in the Suburbs the City of Dublin, presentative for ever..
  4. Book: The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. https://books.google.com/books?id=7QtAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA214. 20 November 2014. 1827. His Majesty's Statute and Law Printers. 214–215. 7 & 8 George IV c.34 .
  5. Book: Statutes at Large. https://books.google.com/books?id=WZBKAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA11. 20 November 2014 . 1857 . 20 & 21 Vict c.8 "An Act to amend the Act 17 & 18 Vict. c. 11., with a view to the Abolition of Ministers Money in Ireland.". George Edward Eyre & William Spottiswoode. London . 11–12.
  6. Davis 1893 pp. 48–49; Irish Builder and Engineer . 1 June 1891 . 33 . 755 . Howard MacGarvey & Sons . 121 . The History of the Church and Parish of St. Michael the Archangel, Dublin. en .
  7. Davis 1893 p. 54; Book: An Act declaring all Attainders, and all other Acts made in the late pretended Parliament, to be void . 7 Will. III, c. 3 (1695) . Statutes Passed in the Parliaments Held in Ireland . 2: 1665–1712 . https://books.google.com/books?id=QYFRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA241 . 1794 . George Grierson, printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty . Dublin . 241–243.
  8. Book: 2 George I, 1715 – 7 George II, 1733. https://books.google.com/books?id=rmpBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA234. 4 March 2015. Statutes Passed in the Parliaments Held in Ireland. III. 1794. G. Grierson, printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. 234. 10 George I c.3 §19: An act For continuing and amending an act, entitled, an act for the better regulating of the parish-watches, and amending the highways in this kingdom, and for preventing misapplication of public money, and also for establishing a regular watch in the city of Dublin, and to prevent mischief which may happen by graving ships in river Liffey..
  9. Select Committee of the House of Commons on the local taxation of the city of Dublin. 5 June 1822. First Report. Sessional Papers. 7. 394. 1–3.
  10. Dudley. Rowena. 1999. The Dublin Parishes and the Poor: 1660-1740. Archivium Hibernicum. Catholic Historical Society of Ireland. 53. 83. 10.2307/25484175 . 25484175. 21174926 .
  11. Book: Stowell, William Hendry. The Eclectic Review. https://books.google.com/books?id=coE3AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA615. 20 November 2014. 1854. C. Taylor. 615–616. The Coalition Government and the Dissenters.
  12. Book: Barrow, John Henry. The Mirror of Parliament. https://books.google.com/books?id=iMAMAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA2582. 21 November 2014. 1838. Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans.. 2582–83. Friday 9 March 1838: Poor Relief (Ireland).
  13. Web site: MINISTERS' MONEY (IRELAND). . Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 7 July 1842. 20 November 2014.
  14. Web site: MINISTERS' MONEY (IRELAND). . Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 3 July 1844. 20 November 2014.
  15. Web site: MINISTERS' MONEY. (IRELAND). 9 March 1854. HC Deb. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). vol 131 cc552–83. 20 November 2014.
  16. Web site: MINISTERS' MONEY (IRELAND). . Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 20 February 1846. 20 November 2014.
  17. Book: The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. https://books.google.com/books?id=UwobAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA41. 4 March 2015. 17 & 18 Victoria. 1854. His Majesty's Statute and Law Printers. 41–46. c.11: An Act to amend the Laws relating to Ministers Money, and the Church Temporalities (Ireland) Act.
  18. Scarlett. Duncan. 1999. Violating the Rubrick Introducing Politics into Divine Worship. Clogher Record. Clogher Historical Society. 16. 3. 31–32 . 10.2307/27699434 . 27699434.
  19. Book: Ministers' Money (Ireland) . Parliamentary papers . HC 1857 sess.2 III (18) 317 . 14 May 1857 . House of Commons . en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ministers' money".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.