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From: "Cathy Day" <>
Subject: Re: [HWE] Christening practices in England
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 22:41:10 +1100
References: <20060106150752.TSJN29035.ibm71aec.bellsouth.net@mail.bellsouth.net>


Hi Shane,

There were no laws in England regarding christenings, but there were
laws regarding marriage and church attendance.

After the Hardwicke Marriage Act of 1754, a marriage had to be performed
in an Anglican church for it to be legally valid. The only exceptions were
Jews and Quakers. Huguenots were not excepted. If the marriage was conducted
in a place other than an Anglican church then it was not legal, and the
children of the marriage would be legally (but not ecclesiastically)
illegitimate. This would severely restrict their rights to inherit property.
Many Dissenters, Catholics and so on had two marriage ceremonies - one in
their own church and one in an Anglican church. Just to complicate the issue
with respect to Huguenot churches - some of them were considered part of the
Established church and others were not. The Hardwicke Marriage Act was
repealed in 1837.

From Elizabethan times (the exact date escapes me) it was illegal not to
attend an Anglican church on a Sunday. This law was aimed primarily at
Catholics. Huge fines were imposed but rarely collected. The Catholic
Emancipation Act of 1827 removed this requirement. Dissenters were freed
from the requirement by an earlier Act - about 1780 I think. As above, some
Huguenot churches were considered part of the Established Church but others
were not. In any case, it would be a pretty rare event to see a Huguenot
prosecuted for non-attendance at church. I haven't seen any references to
the practice, but others may have something else to add.

English law did not require baptisms to be performed in any particular
denomination, and even at the height of religious intolerance, all churches
recognised "one baptism for the forgiveness of sins". That is, once you were
baptised, it didn't matter in the name of which denomination it was done.

Regards,

Cathy Day
Canberra, Australia

----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 2:07 AM
Subject: [HWE] Christening practices in England


> Folks,
>
> Can someone please refresh my memory on the Christening laws in England?
Didn't the Huguenots/
> Walloons have to have Christenings performed in Anglican churches?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Shane
>
>
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