Welsh Journals

counties, and that before then the Welsh formed only a bare majority. These are relatively minor quibbles. The lasting overall impression is of a most interesting, at times highly original, collection of essays that give a generous, indeed catholic (if a fiercely Dissenting subject may be allowed to tolerate that adjective in its non- denominational sense) view of the history of society in Glamorgan, taking in every- thing from politics to music, religion to rugger, and out of all the major preoccupations of living, omitting, perhaps, only a serious treatment of food and drink, or their consequences for health. F. M. L. THOMPSON London LORD Powis AND THE EXTENSION OF THE EPISCOPATE. By Roger L. Brown. Tair Eglwys Press, Tongwynlais, Cardiff, 1989. Pp. 98. £ 3.00. This slim, dressed-down little book of just under a hundred pages should not be judged by its appearance or, indeed, by its incredibly cheap price-cheap even for desk-top productions. It is far more important than it looks, is based on sound research, and makes an interesting contribution both to the history of the Victorian Church in general and to the Welsh Church in particular. So far as the Church in general is concerned, the author's main contribution is to explore the connection between the union of the two north Wales dioceses and the extension of the Anglican episcopate in England. The union, which had been proposed in the first report of the Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues Commissioners in 1835, was intended to facilitate the creation of a new diocese of Manchester in the same way that the see of Ripon was conditional on the union of Gloucester and Bristol. Seen in the context of the urgent need to reform an establishment which was widely regarded as scandalously inefficient and, in particular, to increase the number and location of the English dioceses so as to take account of the concentration of population in the new industrial towns, the proposals made sense. Nor had the plan to unite Bangor and St. Asaph when it was first published been opposed by the two bishops most concerned, and evidently the one Welshman on the Commission, Sir Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, member for Montgomery county and a cabinet minister, had not been moved to object or even, apparently, to seek out local opinion on the matter. As a matter of fact, the Commissioners' minutes show that the original draft omitted to mention Wales and it had to be inserted at a later meeting. From the Commission's point of view, the suppression of one bishopric to make possible the creation of a new one was the only way ahead, for only thus could they ensure that the number of bishops, all of whom had seats in the Lords, would not be increased. It is on this aspect of policy that Mr. Brown is most original, and his analysis of the debates in parliament, especially the key role played by Earl Powis, is very illuminating of changing attitudes, both clerical and lay, to the idea of the episcopate and of the role of the Church in a hostile and potentially revolutionary society.