The Ultra-Tories were an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

faction of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and Irish politics that appeared in the 1820s in opposition to Catholic emancipation. The faction was, in the twenty-first century, called the "

extreme right-wing Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

" of British and Irish politics.James J. Sack
"Ultra tories (''act''. 1827–1834)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 19 September 2011. The Ultra-Tories faction broke away from the governing party in 1829 after the passing of the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 ( 10 Geo. 4. c. 7), also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that removed the sacramental tests that barred Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom f ...

. Many of those labelled Ultra-Tory rejected the label and saw themselves as upholders of the Whig

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

settlement of 1689. The Ultra-Tories were defending "a doctrine essentially similar to that which ministerial Whigs had held since the days of Burnet, Wake, Gibson and

Potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US *Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska *Potters, New Jerse ...

History

A faction that was never formally organised, the Ultra-Tories were united in their antipathy towards the Duke of Wellington and

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

for what they saw as a betrayal of Tory political and religious principle on the issue of Catholic emancipation. They took their opposition to Peel to the extent of successfully running Robert Inglis to defeat Peel when he resigned his Oxford University seat after his change of opinion in 1829. Although Peel was able to get back to Parliament via another seat, this battle further embittered internal party relations. The Ultra-Tory faction was informally led in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

by Member of Parliament Sir Edward Knatchbull and Sir Richard Vyvyan. In the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, they enjoyed the support of a number of ex-cabinet ministers and leading peers including

Duke of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British royal family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom w ...

, the

Earl of Winchilsea Earl of Winchilsea is a title in the Peerage of England. It has been held by the Finch-Hatton family of Kent, and united with the title of Earl of Nottingham under a single holder since 1729. The Finch family is believed to be descended from He ...

and the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, Willi ...

. Their general viewpoint could be described as extreme on the matter of defending the established Anglican ascendancy and barring Catholics from political office or influence. However, they were split on the issue of electoral reform, as large group came to think that it could strengthen the appeal of pro-Protestantism. On 21 March 1829 Winchilsea and Wellington fought the bloodless

Wellington–Winchilsea duel The Wellington-Winchilsea Duel took place on 21 March 1829 at Battersea, then in Surrey on the outskirts of London. It was a bloodless duel fought between the British Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke ...

Battersea Fields Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea, London, Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies ...

over the issue of Catholic emancipation. The inability of the Tories to reunite led to losses in the 1830 general election following the death of King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

. The King's demise, the news of the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

in France, and a series of bad harvests in England all combined to foment a great increase in political agitation, causing some Ultras to return to the party. However, there were sufficient Ultra-Tories left to combine with the Whigs and the

Canningite Canningites were a faction of British Tories in the first decade of the 19th century through the 1820s who were led by George Canning. The Canningites were distinct within the Tory party because they favoured Catholic emancipation and free tra ...

s and defeat Wellington, who finally resigned in November 1830. Ironically, the Canningites had previously split from the main Tory party back in 1827–1828 over the issue of Catholic emancipation, which the Canningites had supported. Wellington's departure led to the creation of a government with Lord Grey as Prime Minister and the leading Canningites such as

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...

and

Lord Melbourne Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His first premiership ended when he was dismissed ...

. One leading Ultra-Tory, the

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

, joined the Grey Cabinet and a few others appointed in more junior ministerial positions. However, the scope of the subsequent reforms proved too much for many of the pro-government Ultras who then moved back into opposition. Eventually, Richmond left the Whig led coalition and returned to the Tory party, or the Conservative Party as it was generally now known, after 1834. Except for a few irreconcilables the vast bulk of the Ultra-Tories eventually moved over to the Conservatives, with some such as Knatchbull enjoying political office in Peel's first government in 1834. However, when the party split again in 1846 over the issue of abolishing the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. The la ...

, the remaining Ultra-Tories quickly rallied to the protectionist banner and helped vote Peel out of office once again, this time for good. The Ultra-Tories were civilian politicians. In practice, they had the overwhelming support of the Anglican clergy and bishops, many of whom came under severe verbal attack in their home parishes and dioceses for opposition to the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

Legacy

J. C. D. Clark depicts England before 1828 as a nation in which the vast majority of the people believed in the divine right of kings, the legitimacy of a hereditary nobility and in the rights and privileges of the Anglican Church. In Clark's interpretation, the system remained virtually intact until it suddenly collapsed in 1828 because Catholic emancipation undermined Anglican supremacy which was its central symbolic prop. Clark argues that the consequences were enormous: "The shattering of a whole social order .. What was lost at that point ..was not merely a constitutional arrangement, but the intellectual ascendancy of a worldview, the

cultural hegemony In Marxist philosophy, cultural hegemony is the dominance of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class who shape the culture of that society—the beliefs and explanations, perceptions, values, and mores—so that the worldview of the rul ...

of the old elite". Clark's interpretation has been widely debated in the scholarly literature and almost every single historian who has examined the issue has highlighted the substantial amount of continuity between the periods before and after 1828–1832. Eric J. Evans emphasizes that the political importance of Catholic emancipation in 1829 was that it split the anti-reformers beyond repair and diminished their ability to block future reform laws, especially the great

. Paradoxically, Wellington's success in forcing through emancipation converted many Ultra-Tories to demand reform of Parliament. They saw that the votes of the rotten boroughs had given the government its majority. Therefore, it was the Ultra-Tory the Marquess of Blandford who in February 1830 introduced the first major reform bill, calling for the transfer of rotten borough seats to the counties and large towns, the disfranchisement of non-resident voters, preventing Crown office-holders from sitting in Parliament, the payment of a salary to MPs and the general franchise for men who owned property. Such ultras believed that somewhat more open elections would be relied upon to oppose Catholic equality.Eric J. Evans (1996), ''The Forging of the Modern State: Early Industrial Britain, 1783–1870'' (2nd ed.), 1990, p. 216.

History

Legacy

See also

Notes

Further reading