Religious Worship for Norfolk: The 1851 Census of Accommodation and Attendance at Worship

Description

When in March 1851 the decennial census was taken in England and Wales two new types of census were also being introduced by Lord John Russell’s Whig government. The first, the Education Census, was of limited effect; the second, however, a census of Accommodation and Attendance at worship, popularly known as the Religious Census, was more successful.  A further religious census was proposed during the planning of the population census of 1861.  It’s critics complained that is was clearly favourable to the Church of England and in the face of the heated opposition of Dissenters, the project was dropped. Hence the exercise in 1851 was unique.

This volume provides a unique view of Religious Worship in early-Victorian Norfolk. The Norfolk returns contain 1,483 entries for places of Religious Worship.