Edward Miall (8 May 1809 – 30 April 1881) was an English journalist, apostle of

disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

, founder of the

Liberation Society The Liberation Society was an organisation in Victorian England that campaigned for disestablishment of the Church of England. It was founded in 1844 by Edward Miall as the British Anti-State Church Association and was renamed in 1853 as the Soc ...

(Society for the Liberation of the Church from State Patronage and Control), and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician. He founded and edited the weekly newspaper ''The Nonconformist''.

Life and work

Miall was born at Portsmouth to Moses Miall and his wife Sarah, daughter of George Rolph. He was educated at St. Saviour's grammar school for a while and then assisted his father in running a school. He then worked as an usher at a school in Bocking near Braintree and then in Nayland, Suffolk. He joined Wymondley Theological Institution in 1829 after which he became

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

minister at

Ware, Hertfordshire Ware is a town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is close to the county town of Hertford. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the parish had a population of 19,622. Hist ...

(1831) and

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

(1834), and in, 1841 founded '' The Nonconformist'', a weekly newspaper in which he advocated the cause of

. Miall saw that if the programme of Nonconformity was to be carried through it must have more effective representation in Parliament. One of the first fruits of his work was the entrance of

John Bright John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn La ...

into parliamentary life; and by 1852 forty

Dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin , 'to disagree') is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Dissent may include political opposition to decrees, ideas or doctrines and it may include opposition to those things or the fiat of ...

s were members of 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 ...

. This was due largely to the efforts of the British Anti-State-Church Association, which Miall was instrumental in founding in 1844; it was renamed in 1853 the Society for the Liberation of Religion from State Patronage and Control, known for short as the Liberation Society. It was never able to secure a Parliamentary majority for disestablishment of the Church of England but the long fight for the abolition of compulsory church-rates was finally successful in 1868, and then in 1870 Miall was prominent in the discussions aroused by the Education Bill. He was at this time Member of Parliament for

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

(1860–1874), having previously sat for

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

from 1852 to 1857. In 1874 he retired from public life, and received from his admirers a present of ten thousand guineas. He died at

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

. Miall married Louisa, daughter of Edward Holmes of Clayhill, Enfield, in 1832 and they had two sons and three daughters.

References

;Attribution *
Obituary of Edward Miall
from ''The Bradford Observer''

External links

* * * * 1809 births 1881 deaths Church of England disestablishment English male journalists Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1868–1874 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Rochdale Politicians from Bradford 19th-century English journalists {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub