Welsh Journals

history of the churches in this country, and also the social and spiritual aspects of that history. It is noted that many London churches maintained daily worship during the 18th century, and that non-residency and pluralism were not, in every case, the evil that some have depicted. Rather, drawing from the Wiltshire visitation returns of 1783, it is suggested that these might work to the advantage of the Church. Although this book is meant for students, it will prove a fascinating and informative read for anyone with an interest in ecclesiastical history, and, I suggest, an essential book for a local historian wishing to write the history of his parish. It will enable that person to set events and practices into context, and also relate his parochial history to a wider arena. Roger L Brown Welshpool Judith Jago, Aspects of the Georgian Church. Visitation Studies of the Diocese of York 1761-1776 [Associated University Presses, London, 1997]. 307 pp. Ills. ISBN: 0 8386 3692 6. Price £ 35.00. In one respect this volume is rather like Hamlet without the prince, as it is a series of studies based primarily upon the Returns that survive from the Primary Visitation of Archbishop Robert Hay Drummond in 1764, but only the Queries are printed as an appendix. It has to be conceded, however, that the reproduction of the Returns themselves would probably have required another two volumes at least Ollard and Walker's edition of the 1743 Returns at Archbishop Herring's visitation occupy no less than five and that the desire to have them for reference alongside Dr Jago's studies can only be a pipe-dream. Sadly, Dr Jago herself did not live to see the fruits of her painstaking work in print. She died prematurely in May 1995, two years before this volume appeared. Her anonymous editor or redactor is to be congratulated on its organisation and presentation. From these pages there emerges further evidence to reinforce the view of recent scholars such as Professor Curien-Barrie, Bill Gibson (whose contributions are, curiously, omitted from the comprehensive biblio- graphy), Bill Jacob and Nigel Yates that the eighteenth century church showed many signs of a vigorous intellectual, pastoral, liturgical and spiritual life. As the 'blurb' for this volume rightly says, the eighteenth century church must be judged by what it tried to do, and not by what Victorian reformers, evangelical and tractarian alike, thought it ought to have tried to do. Dr Jago's studies bring out very clearly what the church in the diocese of York, just before the dawn of the industrial revolution, was trying to do. The archbishop himself is given a mini-biography of fifteen pages. Robert Hay Drummond was a wealthy and well-connected aristocrat, related to the