The Society for the Reformation of Manners in Hull, 1698-1706 : 'Favour'd with the Lord's Wonders'

A behind-the-scenes look at one nonconformist society in the United Kingdom.
 
The 1698 Act of Toleration legalized Christian worship outside the Church of England and unleashed a wave of religious fervor throughout the United Kingdom. In Hull, a group of nonconformist mariners, merchants, and tradesmen formed a regional branch of the Society for the Reformation of Manners to turn back the swelling tides of sin they perceived in their community. To this end, they sued their neighbors and sponsored sermons on spiritual reformation. Their successes and failures shed new light on the degree to which High Church Tories were willing to tolerate the Toleration. This volume presents the society’s records in full for the first time, with an introduction analyzing their origins, methods, and ultimate decline by historian Daniel Reed.

The Society for the Reformation of Manners in Hull was formed in 1698 by religiously-inspired mariners, merchants and tradesmen who aimed to hinder the spread of sin and wickedness in their town. Their methods included initiating prosecutions against their neighbours’ transgressions, and sponsoring sermons on the subject of spiritual reformation. Unlike other religious societies of this period, the majority of the leading members in the Hull society were Dissenters from the Church of England. For many nonconformists, the period represented a providential ‘now or never’ moment for moral reform. The Society’s activities shed considerable light on the degree to which High Churchmen were willing to tolerate the Toleration. An exceptional survival for a regional society for the reformation of manners, this volume presents their records in full for the first time, with an introductory essay analysing its origins, membership, methods, and ultimate decline.