York Parish Registers, The Million Act Churches.

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THE 'MILLION ACT' CHURCHES:

Source=h:/!Genuki/RecordTranscriptions/YKS/YPR.txt Following the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, that ended the Napoleonic Wars, a movement gathered pace in England for the building of new churches to commemorate the War victories. As the movement grew larger, and opinions sought, it became obvious to members of the movement that a radical approach to the whole question of new churches, repairs to existing ones, and the siting of churches was called for. Of particular concern was the shortage of places for worshippers in the rapidly-growing towns of the West Riding of Yorkshire, where the cotton, and other new industries, had attracted large numbers of migrants from the countryside.

So it was, that in the Freemasons' Hall in London on the 6th February 1818, a meeting was convened, chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury. During the meeting the Duke of Northumberland proposed the formation of a Church Building Society (CBS), and was seconded by Lord Kenyon. A committee of thirty six was then appointed, which included eight future Commissioners.

The CBS lobbied parliament to provide funding for a radical church building programme, and were successful in 1818 when parliament passed the Church Building Act, and voted £l,000,000 to the building of new churches, to be administered by appointed Commissioners. This Act then became popularly known as the 'Million Act'. In 1824, Austria unexpectedly repaid a £2,000,000 war loan, which the government had already written off. This windfall resulted in a further £500,000 being voted to the coffers of the Church Building Commission. The Commissioners were also empowered to raise further sums by accumulating common interest and loan interest on the sums they administered, and by the reclamation of duty paid on materials used in the building of the churches.

ln parallel with parliament's efforts, the Church Building Society also raised funds, by voluntary subscriptions, towards the same purpose. During the 1820s the CBS had given its aid, for the most part, to those parishes which the commission was legally inhibited from assisting.

The CBS was, in reality, the Commission in the guise of the Church, as distinct from the State. The leading Commissioners usually sat also on the Society's committee.

In 1828, the government recognised the importance of the CBS and it was incorporated by statute, and became known as the Incorporated Church Building Society, or ICBS, but also by 1828 the funds available to both the Commissioners and the ICBS had all but run out, so parliament passed a further Act which abolished the practice of raising funds in churches for fires and other disasters, known as briefs', and replaced it by a mechanism known as the 'Royal Letter'. These were to be read out from the pulpit of every church in the Kingdom, and all money received was to be administered by the ICBS.

By the end of 1856, the total amount of money raised and spent on church building and repair by the Commissioners was £1,675,000, and by the CBS/ICBS an estimated £l,556,000. This total of over three million pounds had resulted in the building of 612 new churches, 106 of which were in Yorkshire, mostly the West Riding. These churches became known, if somewhat derogatorily, as "Commissioners' Churches", "Waterloo Churches" or "Million Act Churches". These were not the only churches to be built, of course, by any means. Mann calculated that 2,029 new churches had been built between 1831 and 1851, based on a study of the 1851 Ecclesiastical Census.

Yorkshire Churches Built with the Aid of the First Parliamentary Grant

Church	Riding	Cost £	Grant £	Year
Alverthorpe, St. Paul	WR	8,082	Whole	1823-5
Attercliffe, Christchurch	WR	11,896	12,041	1822-6
Barnsley, St. George	WR	5,963	Whole	1821-2
Dewsbury Moor, St. John	WR	5,918	Whole	1823-7
Earlsheaton, St. Peter	WR	5 301	Whole	1825-7
Hanging Heaton, St. Pauls	WR	4,811	Whole	1823-5
Leeds: Christ Church, Meadow Lane	WR	10,555	Whole	1823-5
Leeds: St. Mary, Quarry Hill	WR	10,809	11,029	1823-5
Leeds: St Mark, Woodhouse	WR	9,637	Whole	1823-5
Pudsey, St. Lawrence	WR	13 475	Whole	1821-3
Sheffield: St. George	WR	15,181	Whole	1821-5
Sheffield: St. Mary	WR	13,927	13,941	1826-9
Sheffield: St. Philip	WR	13 116	Whole	1822-7
Shipley, St. Paul	WR	7,961	7,992	1823-5
Stanley, St. Peter	WR	11,989	Whole	1821-4
Wilsden, St. Matthew	WR	8,146	8,174	1823-5

Yorkshire Churches Built with the Aid of the Second Parliamentary Grant

Church	Riding	Cost £	Grant £	Year
Bridlington Quay, Christ Church	ER	2,546	100	1840
Hull: St. James, Myton	ER	5,373	3,591	1829-31
Hull: St. Mark, Sutton	ER	3,871	500	1841-2
Hull: St. Paul, Sculcoates	ER	4,000	500	1846-7
Scarborough, Christ Church	NR	6,692	4,733	1826-8
Whitby: St. John, Baxtergate	NR	3,148	750	1848-9
Whitby: St Michael	NR	3 300	150	1847-8
Barkisland, Christ Church	WR	l,350	150	1852-3
Batley Carr, Holy Trinity	WR	1,828	300	1840-1
Battyeford, Christ Church	WR	1,769	691	1839-40
Birkenshaw, St. Paul	WR	3,310	Whole	1829-30
Bradford: St Andrew, North Horton	WR	2,425	200	1851-2
Bradford: St. Matthew, Bankfoot	WR	1,867	200	1848-9
Brampton Bierlow, Christ Church	WR	3,000	125	1854-5
Brighouse, St. Martin	WR	3,605	Whole	1830-1
Clayton, St. John the Baptist	WR	1903	1,031	1849-50
Cleckheaton, St. John	WR	2,632	Whole	1830-1
Cowling, Holy Trinity	WR	1,896	500	1844-5
Cragg, St. John the Baptist	WR	1 888	452	1838-9
Crossland, South, Holy Trinity	WR	2,588	2,272	1827-9
Cross Stones, St. Paul	WR	2,840	1,840	1833-5
Cullingworth, St. John the Evangelist	WR	1,660	500	1851-3
Denholme Gate, St. Paul	WR	3,700	500	1843-6
Dewsbury, St. Matthew, West Town	WR	2,861	250	1847-8
Dodsworth, St. John	WR	2,518	250	1843-4
East Knottingley, Christ Church	WR	2,166	200	1847-8
Eastwood, St. Mary the Virgin	WR	1,523	230	1854-5
Eccleshill, St. Luke	WR	2,634	1,114	1846-8
Embsay, St. Mary the Virgin	WR	1,500	150	1852-3
Farsley, St. John the Evangelist	WR	l,531	300	1842-3
Golcar, St. John	WR	3,133	Whole	1828-9
Gomersall, St. Mary the Virgin	WR	2,466	180	1850-l
Greasborough, St. Mary	WR	5,077	2,000	1826-8
Halifax: St. James	WR	4,196	Whole	1830-l
Halifax: St. Paul, King's Cross	WR	3,650	300	1844-6
Hebden Bridge (Mytholm), St. James	WR	3,047	Whole	1832-3
Heckmondwike, St. James	WR	2,805	Whole	1830-l
Hopton, St. John	WR	1,245	100	1844-5
Hoyland (dedication unknown)	WR	2,076	1,000	1830
Huddersfield, St. Paul	WR	5,700	Whole	1828-30
Idle, Holy Trinity	WR	3,115	Whole	1828-9
Ingrow, St. John the Evangelist	WR	2,167	500	1841-2
Kimberworth, St. Thomas	WR	l,561	600	1841-2
Kirkstall, St. Stephen	WR	3,206	Whole	1828-9
Knaresborough, Holy Trinity	WR	3,200	300	1854-6
Leeds: All Saints, York Road	WR	3,166	300	1849-50
Leeds: St. Andrew, Cavendish Street	WR	3,972	300	1843-4
Leeds: St Barnabas, Brewery Field	WR	l,660	250	1854-5
Leeds: St. John the Baptist, New Wortley	WR	3,457	350	1852
Leeds: St. Jude, Hunslet	WR	2,671	300	1852-3
Leeds: St. Matthew, Camp Road	WR	2,851	200	1850-1
Leeds: St. Matthew, Holbeck	WR	3,735	3,349	1829-30
Leeds: St. Michael, Buslingthorpe	WR	2,170	300	1852-4
Leeds: St. Philip, Wellington Street	WR	3,371	300	1845-7
Leeds: St. Stephen, Burmantofts	WR	2,685	200	1853-4
Lindley, St. Stephen	WR	2,714	Whole	1828-9
Linthwaite, Christ Church	WR	3,135	3,035	1827-8
Lockwood, Emmanuel	WR	3,147	3,047	1828-9
Morley, St. Peter	WR	2,968	Whole	1829-30
Morton, St. Luke	WR	l,550	500	1849-50
Mount Pellon, Christ Church	WR	l,360	125	1853-4
Mytholmroyd, St. Michael	WR	l,739	300	1847-8
Netherthong, All Saints	WR	2,867	2,557	1829-30
New Mills, Christ Church	WR	3,715	3,525	1829-30
Oakworth, Christ Church	WR	2,019	500	1845-6
Ovenden, St. John	WR	l,070	200	1838
Oxenhope, St. Mary the Virgin	WR	1,199	250	1849
Paddock, All Saints	WR	2,706	Whole	1828-9
Pateley Bridge, St. Cuthbert	WR	6,612	2,000	1825-7
Pudsey, St. Paul	WR	l,570	200	1855-6
Queenshead, Holy Trinity	WR	2,613	500	1842-3
Robertown, All Saints	WR	2,077	300	1844-5
Sheffield: Christ Church, Pitsmoor	WR	2 312	232	1849-50
Sheffield: St. Jude, Eldon	WR	2,070	250	1848-9
Sheffield: St. Jude, Moorfields	WR	l,750	350	1849-55
Sheffield: St. Matthew, Carver Street	WR	3,363	200	1854-5
Sheffield: St. Thomas, Brightside	WR	2,820	100	1852-4
Shelf, St. Michael and All Angels	WR	1,527	250	1849
Shepley, St. Paul	WR	1,745	100	1848
Somercotes, St. Thomas	WR	1,404	10	1853
South Ossett, Christ Church	WR	2,000	200	1850-l
Stannington, Christ Church	WR	2,820	Whole	1828-9
Thornes (Wakefield), St. James	WR	2,020	1,000	1829-30
Thurgoland, Holy Trinity	WR	1 300	150	1841-2
Upperthong, St. John (Holmfirth)	WR	4,340	200	1846-8
Wakefield, St. Mary	WR	l,863	300	1853-4
Woodside, St. James	WR	1,916	200	1846-8
Wyke, St. Mary	WR	3,050	500	1846-7
Yeadon, St. John the Evangelist	WR	1,605	300	1843-4
York, St. Thomas, The Groves	WR	l,970	50	1853-4

Christchurch, Todmorden (1832) is missing from the aobve list. However due to change of County boundaries it may well have come under Lancashire at the time. There is a stone in the churchyard wall in Well Lane below Christchurch which reads "Yorkshire and Lancashire parteth here".The County boundary has moved several times. It is now several miles towards Burnley. [Sylvia Dawson, Feb. 2008].

References:
Six Hundred New Churches. A study of the Church Building Commission, 1816-1856: M. H. Port

Sketches of the Religious Denominations of the Present day, ...(Abridged from the official report, 1851): H. Mann

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