TY - JOUR
T1 - Charity disestablished? The Origins of the Charity Organisation Society revisited, 1868-1871
AU - Roberts, Michael J. D.
N1 - Copyright 2003 Cambridge University Press. Reprinted from Journal of Ecclesiastical History.
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - The Charity Organisation Society is conventionally assumed to have emerged as a natural response to chronic problems of urban poverty relief which, by 1869, had become acute. While accepting that such an approach identifies a necessary dimension of explanation, the argument presented here contends that no sufficient explanation of the emergence of the COS can be given without taking into account the ecclesiastical dimension of events, in particular, the key role played by Whig Broad Churchmen determined to ‘hold the line’ against ideals of religious voluntarism in the aftermath of the shock of Gladstone's 1868 disestablishment of the Church of Ireland.
AB - The Charity Organisation Society is conventionally assumed to have emerged as a natural response to chronic problems of urban poverty relief which, by 1869, had become acute. While accepting that such an approach identifies a necessary dimension of explanation, the argument presented here contends that no sufficient explanation of the emergence of the COS can be given without taking into account the ecclesiastical dimension of events, in particular, the key role played by Whig Broad Churchmen determined to ‘hold the line’ against ideals of religious voluntarism in the aftermath of the shock of Gladstone's 1868 disestablishment of the Church of Ireland.
U2 - 10.1017/S0022046901001506
DO - 10.1017/S0022046901001506
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-0469
VL - 54
SP - 40
EP - 61
JO - The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
JF - The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
IS - 1
ER -