The
Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881 was significant landmark legislation which introduced a religious legal difference to Wales. Welsh university colleges were formed in Cardiff and Bangor in 1883–84 and Welsh issues were prominent in the parliament of 1886–92. The introduction of the Welsh land commission of 1892 and the formation of the
University of Wales in 1893 were driven by Welsh Liberals, supported by Welsh Liberal
David Lloyd George. Prime Minister
William Gladstone also later became more supportive and voted in favour of
disestablishment. The two men contributed to Welsh disestablishment and acknowledged the Welsh national consciousness. After 1886 the sentiment of developed, with more politicians moving in view towards a
Welsh home rule similar to
Ireland's, including
T. E. Ellis, who also supported disestablishment as a return of religion in Wales to the native order. Whilst the Irish nationalist movement focused on home rule, the Welsh movement focused on disestablishment. The
Rosebery government eventually gave in to pressures from Welsh Liberals and , and introduced a Welsh Disestablishment Bill 1894. This was rejected; it was followed by another Bill in 1909 which was also rejected. Another Bill was introduced in 1912, and despite rejection from the
House of Lords the Bill was passed in 1914 after the Parliament Act allowed overriding of the Lords. A 70-year continuous campaign for Welsh disestablishment culminated in the passing of the Welsh Church Act in 1914; it came into force in 1920, having been delayed by the First World War. The campaign was motivated by a desire for freedom of religious expression as well as legal and civil equality for
Welsh nonconformity. The matter also became associated with a wider movement for the recognition of the
Welsh national identity, Welsh distinctiveness and culture and the
Welsh language. Although Welsh Liberals were divided on the issue of Welsh home rule in the 1890s, they were united on disestablishment in Wales. The act was controversial, and was passed by the House of Commons under the provisions of the
Parliament Act 1911, which reduced the power of the House of Lords to block legislation. The main financial terms were that the church no longer received
tithe money (a land tax), but kept all its churches, properties and
glebes. The
Welsh Church Commissioners were set up by the act to identify affected assets and oversee their transfer. The act was politically and historically significant as one of the first pieces of legislation to apply solely to Wales (
and Monmouthshire) as opposed to the wider legal entity of
England and Wales. Owing to the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the act was given
royal assent on 18 September simultaneously with another controversial bill, the
Government of Ireland Act 1914. In addition, royal assent was given to the
Suspensory Act 1914 which provided that the two other acts would not
come into force for the remainder of the war. On 31 March 1920 most of the Welsh part of the Church of England became the
Church in Wales, an independent
province of the
Anglican Communion, with (originally) four
dioceses led by the
Archbishop of Wales. However, 18 out of 19 church parishes which spanned the Welsh–English border
overwhelmingly voted in individual referendums to remain within the Church of England. The Welsh Church Act 1914 and the Government of Ireland Act 1914 were (together with the
Parliament Act 1949) the only acts enacted by invoking the
Parliament Act 1911 until the
War Crimes Act in 1991. == Responses ==