Editing Nonconformist (Protestantism) (section)

====Disabilities removed====
[[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] had imposed a series of disabilities on Nonconformists that prevented them from holding most public offices, that required them to pay local taxes to the Anglican church, be married by Anglican ministers, and be denied attendance at Oxford or degrees at Cambridge.<ref>Owen Chadwick, ''The Victorian Church, Part One: 1829–1859'' (1966) pp.&nbsp;60–95, 142–58</ref> Dissenters demanded removal of political and civil disabilities that applied to them (especially those in the Test and Corporation Acts). The Anglican establishment strongly resisted until 1828.<ref>G. I. T. Machin, "Resistance to Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, 1828". ''Historical Journal'' 22#1 (1979): 115–139. {{JSTOR|2639014}}. {{doi|10.1017/S0018246X00016708}}.</ref> The [[Test Act 1673]] made it illegal for anyone not receiving [[Eucharist|communion]] in the Church of England to hold office under the crown. The [[Corporation Act 1661]] did likewise for offices in [[Local government in the United Kingdom|municipal government]]. Although the Test and Corporation Acts remained on the statute-book, in practice they were not enforced against Protestant nonconformists due to the passage of various [[Indemnity Act]]s, in particular the [[Indemnity Act 1727]], which relieved Nonconformists from the requirements in the Test Act 1673 and the Corporation Act 1661 that public office holders must have taken the [[Eucharist|sacrament of the Lord's Supper]] in an [[Church of England|Anglican]] church.<ref>E. Neville Williams, ''The Eighteenth-Century Constitution, 1688–1815: Documents and Commentary'' (Cambridge University Press, 1965), pp. 341–343.</ref> In 1732, Nonconformists in the [[City of London]] created an association, the [[Protestant dissenting deputies|Dissenting Deputies]] to secure repeal of the Test and Corporation acts. The Deputies became a sophisticated pressure group, and worked with liberal [[Whigs (British political party)|Whigs]] to achieve repeal in 1828. It was a major achievement for an outside group, but the Dissenters were not finished.<ref>Richard W. Davis, "The Strategy of 'Dissent' in the Repeal Campaign, 1820–1828". ''Journal of Modern History'' 38.4 (1966): 374–393. {{JSTOR|1876681}}.</ref>

Next on the agenda was the matter of [[church rate]]s, which were local taxes at the parish level for the support of the parish church building in England and Wales. Only buildings of the established church received the tax money. Civil disobedience was attempted but was met with seizure of personal property and even imprisonment. The compulsory factor was finally abolished in 1868 by [[William Ewart Gladstone]], and payment was made voluntary.<ref>[[Olive Anderson]], "Gladstone's Abolition of Compulsory Church Rates: a Minor Political Myth and its Historiographical Career". ''Journal of Ecclesiastical History'' 25#2 (1974): 185–198. {{doi|10.1017/S0022046900045735}}.</ref> While Gladstone was a moralistic evangelical inside the Church of England, he had strong support in the Nonconformist community.<ref>G. I. T. Machin, "Gladstone and Nonconformity in the 1860s: The Formation of an Alliance". ''Historical Journal'' 17 (1974): 347–364. {{doi|10.1017/S0018246X00007780}}. {{JSTOR|2638302}}.</ref><ref>Jacob P. Ellens, ''Religious Routes to Gladstonian Liberalism: The Church Rate Conflict in England and Wales 1852–1868'' (2010).</ref> The marriage question was settled by [[Marriage Act 1836]] which allowed local government registrars to handle marriages. Nonconformist ministers in their own chapels were allowed to marry couples if a registrar was present. Also in 1836, [[Civil registration#United Kingdom|civil registration of births, deaths and marriages]] was taken from the hands of local parish officials and given to local government registrars. Burial of the dead was a more troubling problem, for urban chapels rarely had graveyards, and sought to use the traditional graveyards controlled by the established church. The [[Burial Laws Amendment Act 1880]] finally allowed this.<ref name = "Helmstadter1979">Richard Helmstadter, "The Nonconformist Conscience" in Peter Marsh, ed., ''The Conscience of the Victorian State'' (1979)</ref>{{rp|144–147}}

[[Oxford University]] required students seeking admission to submit to the [[Thirty-nine Articles]] of the Church of England. [[Cambridge University]] required that for a diploma. The two ancient universities opposed giving a charter to the new [[London University]] in the 1830s, because it had no such restriction. London University, nevertheless, was established in 1836, and by the 1850s Oxford dropped its restrictions. In 1871 Gladstone sponsored legislation that provided full access to degrees and fellowships. The [[Universities in Scotland|Scottish universities]] never had restrictions.<ref name = "Helmstadter1979"/>{{rp|147}}