Acts of Union

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Union, Act of (1800), in fact two identical measures passed in 1800 by the British and Irish parliaments. These created, with effect from 1 January 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Negotiated by Cornwallis and Castlereagh, under the supervision of the prime minister, William Pitt, the Union provided that Ireland should be represented in the House of Lords by four bishops and 28 representative peers, and in the Commons by 100 MPs. Initially each country retained its own financial system and national debt, with Ireland meeting two‐seventeenths of future expenditure. The two exchequers were united in 1817 and Irish and British taxation gradually brought into line. Protective duties on a range of manufactured goods entering Ireland were maintained at a reduced level until 1824.

The immediate occasion for the Union was the insurrection of 1798, seen as confirming the need for direct control of a neighbouring dependency whose instability had become a serious threat. But there had been concern, ever since 1782, at the fragility of the Anglo‐Irish connection in the wake of legislative independence. Opponents of the measure included not only the existing Whig opposition and threatened commercial interests, particularly in the city of Dublin, but also prominent former supporters of government, such as John Foster. These last were motivated partly by patriot sentiment but also by the fear that direct rule from London could not be trusted to maintain Protestant supremacy. Politically conscious Catholics, by contrast, generally supported the Union, in the belief, encouraged by government, that it would be followed by rapid progress towards full Catholic emancipation.

On 24 January 1799 the Irish Commons voted III to 106 to remove from an address to the lord lieutenant a reference to possible union. But when parliament reassembled in January 1800 there was a comfortable pro‐union majority. In the interval Cornwallis and Castlereagh had dismissed prominent anti‐unionists like Foster, while luring potential supporters with office or the promise of future favours. They also undertook to compensate patrons of boroughs for the loss of electoral influence. Nationalist historians and polemicists were later to claim that the Union had been imposed by bribery. Modern accounts suggest that the exchange of patronage for parliamentary support remained within the limits of 18th‐century convention, and emphasize the extent to which both sides engaged, through pamphleteering, petitions, and public meetings, in a competition for public opinion as well as parliamentary votes.

The Union did not succeed in making Ireland part of a unitary British state. There were suggestions, in 1800 and at intervals thereafter, that the Union had made a separate Irish executive unnecessary. But in practice Ireland's physical separateness and size (a population in 1800 half that of England, Scotland, and Wales), as well as its problems of political disaffection, religious conflict, and economic underdevelopment, ensured that day‐to‐day government continued to be conducted from Dublin Castle, under the direction of a lord lieutenant and chief secretary. During the 19th century government came to be characterized by a high level of state intervention, in education (see schools), public health (see Hospitals), and economic development, and by a degree of central control, which further highlighted Ireland's separateness from the rest of the United Kingdom.

Protestant opponents fairly quickly came to terms with the Union. The appearance from the 1820s of a politically mobilized Catholic electorate confirmed most in a belief that Ireland's continued membership of the United Kingdom represented their only security. Catholic enthusiasm for the measure, on the other hand, diminished when the declared hostility of King George III led Pitt to abandon plans for emancipation. Perceptions of the Union were also strongly influenced by the contrast between the prosperity that had apparently accompanied legislative independence and the industrial decline that followed the abolition of tariffs in 1824. In the 1840s O'Connell built up a formidable mass agitation in support of repeal. The 1850s and 1860, however, saw a fuller, though still incomplete, incorporation of Ireland into the politics of the United Kingdom, and it was arguably not until the rise of the home rule movement in the 1870s that it became clear that the Union had irrevocably failed to provide a generally accepted framework for Anglo‐Irish relations.

Bibliography

Bolton, G. C. , The Passing of the Irish Act of Union (1966)

Union, Act of (Scotland), 1707. United England and Scotland and established the kingdom of Great Britain. In 1603 there was a union of crowns when James VI of Scotland became James I of England but, despite the king's wish the two countries remained independent states until 1707 (except for a brief legislative union during the Interregnum). After 1688 William III was anxious to promote union and in 1700 the House of Lords approved a bill authorizing the appointment of commissioners to negotiate, but the Commons did not agree. The process was restarted on the accession of Anne in 1702, but commissioners did not meet until April 1706, as there was much opposition or indifference in both countries. The English government was driven to seek a union when in 1705, to try to extract economic concessions, the Scottish Parliament passed an act allowing Scotland to choose a successor to the Scottish crown on Anne's death, putting the prospect of the Hanoverian succession in jeopardy. The articles of union negotiated by the commissioners formed the basis of the Acts passed by both the English and Scottish Parliaments.

The unitary state of Great Britain was established on 12 May 1707 with Anne as queen, and the succession guaranteed in the house of Hanover. The Scottish Parliament was abolished, and Scottish representation in the British parliament consisted of 45 MPs and 16 representative peers (the numbers based on the respective sizes of the two economies). Free trade between North Britain (Scotland) and South Britain (England) was established, and England's colonies were open to the Scots on an equal footing. The Scots retained their own legal system (though the House of Lords soon established its position as the highest court of appeal from the Scottish courts), as well as their own Privy Council (this, however, was abolished in 1708). The established churches were to remain the same: Anglican in England and presbyterian in Scotland.

The Union did not settle the problem of mistrust between the two nations, and though England secured immediately the succession and thus her northern frontier (one of her main objectives), Scotland's chief expectation of economic benefit was several decades in coming.

Clyve Jones

Union, Act of (Wales). A 20th-cent. term applied to two Acts of Parliament (1536, 1542/3) in which Wales was declared ‘incorporated, united and annexed’ to the English realm. The 1536 Act laid down principles ‘for laws and justice to be administered in Wales in like form as it is in this realm’; the Act of 1542/3 contained further details. This legislation completed social, administrative, and judicial developments in the principality and marcher lordships of Wales since Edward I's reign. It sprang from the circumstances of the 1530s: Henry VIII's divorce and the breach with Rome, royal supremacy over the church, and associated problems, and order and defence. It was also part of an attempt to bring uniformity and control to provincial government, by attacking franchises; it expressed ideas about royal sovereignty and reflected the bureaucratic genius of Thomas Cromwell. The 1536 Act created five shires (Monmouth, Brecon, Radnor, Denbigh, and Montgomery) in addition to the six of the old principality (Carmarthen, Cardigan, Anglesey, Caernarfon, Merioneth, and Flint) and existing counties palatine, Pembroke and Glamorgan. Equality at law was granted to the Welsh, and English law, which had made great advances in Wales, became official usage. Each Welsh county had one MP (prosperous Monmouth two), and each county town had one parliamentary burgess (except poor Harlech), with ‘contributory’ boroughs providing support. The 1542/3 Act created the Court of Great Sessions, with twelve shires grouped in four circuits and Monmouth joining the Oxford circuit, an anomaly that created uncertainty as to whether Monmouthshire was or was not Welsh. The Council in the Marches received statutory recognition with supervisory judicial powers. The English language, which had made considerable inroads, was the language of administration and justice, a sore point later on. The measures were welcomed by influential Welshmen and were regarded as a boon for long after; the growth of Welsh nationalism in the 20th cent. modifed this view.

Ralph Alan Griffiths

Union, Act of (Scotland), 1707. United England and Scotland and established the kingdom of Great Britain. In 1603 there was a union of crowns when James VI of Scotland became James I of England but the two countries remained independent states until 1707. After 1688 William III was anxious to promote union but the Commons did not agree. The process was restarted on the accession of Anne in 1702, but commissioners did not meet until April 1706. The English government was driven to seek a union when in 1705, to try to extract economic concessions, the Scottish Parliament passed an Act allowing Scotland to choose a successor to the Scottish crown on Anne's death, putting the prospect of the Hanoverian succession in jeopardy. The articles of union negotiated by the commissioners formed the basis of the Acts passed by both the English and Scottish Parliaments. The unitary state of Great Britain was established on 12 May 1707 with Anne as queen, and the succession guaranteed in the house of Hanover. The Scottish Parliament was abolished, and Scottish representation in the British parliament consisted of 45 MPs and 16 representative peers (the numbers based on the respective sizes of the two economies). Free trade between North Britain (Scotland) and South Britain (England) was established, and England's colonies were open to the Scots on an equal footing. The Scots retained their own legal system, as well as their own Privy Council (this, however, was abolished in 1708). The established churches were to remain the same: Anglican in England and presbyterian in Scotland.

Union, Act of (Ireland), 1801. United the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland, abolished the Irish Parliament in Dublin, and ended Irish legislative independence granted in 1782. The Act originated from Britain's difficulties in governing Ireland especially after the Irish rising of 1798, and was designed to strengthen British security against France. The first bill in 1799 failed because of the opposition of powerful protestant interests which dominated the Irish Parliament. They were bought off by bribery and lavish promises of honours and titles and the Act came into force on 1 January 1801. In place of her own House of Commons of 300 members, Ireland was given 100 MPs at Westminster, drawn from the counties and larger boroughs, while 28 Irish peers were elected for life by the whole Irish peerage to represent them in the Lords. Four bishops of the Church of Ireland, serving in rotation, also entered the Lords. The Act was intended to pave the way for catholic emancipation in Ireland but George III refused to consent and Pitt, the prime minister, resigned. The Act was always unpopular in Ireland, Daniel O'Connell and later Charles Stewart Parnell leading the agitation for repeal, but it lasted until 1920.

E. A. Smith

Union, Act of (Wales) A 20th‐cent. term applied to two Acts of Parliament (1536, 1542/3) in which Wales was declared ‘incorporated, united and annexed’ to the English realm. The 1536 Act laid down principles ‘for laws and justice to be administered in Wales in like form as it is in this realm’; the Act of 1542/3 contained further details. The 1536 Act created five shires (Monmouth, Brecon, Radnor, Denbigh, and Montgomery) in addition to the six of the old principality (Carmarthen, Cardigan, Anglesey, Caernarfon, Merioneth, and Flint) and existing counties palatine, Pembroke and Glamorgan. Equality at law was granted to the Welsh, and English law became official usage. Each Welsh county had one MP (prosperous Monmouth two), and each county town had one parliamentary burgess (except poor Harlech). The 1542/3 Act created the Court of Great Sessions, with twelve shires grouped in four circuits and Monmouth joining the Oxford circuit, an anomaly that created uncertainty as to whether Monmouthshire was or was not Welsh.

Union, Acts of Laws that cemented the political union of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the complete subjugation of Wales by 1284, the Statute of Rhuddlan, never submitted to a formal Parliament, sanctioned the English system of administration there. Not until 1536 was an Act passed by HENRY VIII, which incorporated Wales with England, and granted for the first time Welsh representation in Parliament. The Stuarts united the thrones but not the governments of England and Scotland in 1603. In 1707 an Act of Union between England and Scotland gave the Scots free trade with England, but in return for representation at Westminster they had to give up their own Parliament. The Protestant Irish Parliament enjoyed independence from 1782 to 1800, when legislation (1 August 1800) was introduced to establish the UNITED KINGDOM of Great Britain and Ireland (1 January 1801).

Union, Acts of Series of acts uniting England with Wales (1536) and Scotland (1707), and Britain with Ireland (1800). In addition, the 1841 Act of Union united French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada. The Welsh Acts incorporated Wales within the kingdom of England, provided Welsh parliamentary representation and made English the official language. The Scottish Act united the Kingdoms of England and Scotland to form Great Britain. Scotland retained its legal system and Presbyterian Church. In accordance with the Irish Act, the Irish legislature was abolished, and Ireland was given 32 peers and 100 seats in the British Parliament. The established Churches of the two countries were united, and free trade was introduced. The Canadian Act led to the establishment of a Parliament for the province.

Union, Act of (Ireland), 1801. United the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland, abolished the Irish Parliament in Dublin, and ended Irish legislative independence granted in 1782. The Act originated from Britain's difficulties in governing Ireland especially after the Irish rising of 1798, and was designed to strengthen British security against France. The Act came into force on 1 January 1801. In place of her own House of Commons of 300 members, Ireland was given 100 MPs at Westminster, while 28 Irish peers were elected for life by the whole Irish peerage to represent them in the Lords. The Act was intended to pave the way for catholic emancipation in Ireland but George III refused to consent and Pitt, the prime minister, resigned.

Act of Union For the union of England and Scotland (1707), see Great Britain ; for the union of Ireland (1800) with Great Britain, see Ireland .

Act of Union See UNION, ACTS OF.

Act of Union See Union