Kennedy, Sandy; (2014) The emergence of a catholic identity and the need for educational and social provision in nineteenth century Brighton. Doctoral thesis , Institute of Education, University of London.

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Abstract

The 1829 Act of Emancipation was designed to return to Catholics the full rights of citizenship which had been denied them for over two hundred years. In practice, Protestant mistrust and Establishment fears of a revival of popery continued unabated. Yet thirty years earlier, in Regency Brighton, the Catholic community although small seemed to have enjoyed an unprecedented degree of tolerance and acceptance. This thesis questions this apparent anomaly and asks whether in the century that followed, Catholics managed to unite across class and nationality divides and establish their own identity, or if they too were subsumed into the culture of the time, subject to the strict social and hierarchical ethos of the Victorian age. It explores the inevitable tension between 'principle' and 'pragmatism' in a town so heavily dependent upon preserving an image of relaxed and welcoming populism. This is a study of the changing demography of Brighton as the Catholic population expanded and schools and churches were built to meet their needs, mirroring the situation in the country as a whole. It explains the responsibilities of Catholics to themselves and to the wider community. It offers an in-depth analysis of educational provision in terms of the structure, administration and curriculum in the schools, as provided both by the growing number of religious orders and lay teachers engaged in the care and education of both the wealthy and the poor. The evidence for this is based on evidence drawn from on a wide range of primary sources material relating to Catholic education in the nineteenth century. It shows, too, how this disparate Catholic body, both religious and secular, was subject to a number of significant ii national and international influences which had a profound effect in formulating a distinctive Catholic presence.

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