The Reformation in England established the Church of England as the state Church and laws were passed which discriminated against Roman Catholics. Widespread discrimination and persecution followed. Political opposition to the suppression of catholics grew stronger throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries; the French Revolution of 1789 adding to the pressures for equality. The Grenvillites were strong supporters of emancipation, especially the first Duke. Emancipation was achieved in 1829, although vestiges of discrimination still survive in Britain at the beginning of the 21st century. 

Background

The 1559 Act of Uniformity imposed fines on men who refused to attend Church of England services at their parish church. It applied to non-conformists as well as catholics (recusants), who were fined one shilling. Attitudes against Catholics hardened over the next half century, driven by several factors including the :

• 1569: Northern earls rebellion and celebration of mass in Durham cathedral
• 1570: Excommunication of Queen Elizabeth
• 1571: Roberto Ridolphi's attempt to free Mary Queen of Scots

As a result, suppression increased: 

• 1581: saying or hearing mass became punishable by fine or imprisonment, and the fine for recusancy increased to £20 a month
• 1585: being a catholic priest became punishable by death.

Between 1581 and 1603, 60 recusants and 120 priests were executed. Despite the persecution, there were 400 priests in England in England by 1603 and a number of aristocratic catholic families. 

Declarations of Indulgence were made in favour of catholicism by Charles II (1672) and the catholic James II (1687 & 1688), though these were one of the main reasons for the latter being deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89. 

The Bill of Rights of 1689, which put William and Mary on the throne, barred catholics from succeeding to the throne; a situation that remains unchanged. In Ireland, between 1697 and 1727, a series of laws sought to bar catholics from voting, owning  land, entering professions, being educated at university, teaching, etc. 

The Toleration Act of 1689 gave non-conformists freedom to worship but catholics were excluded. However, they flourished unpunished in several parts of the midlands and north of England, and by the mid-18th century private catholic practice was largely tolerated and increasing. Chapels and schools, though technically illegal, began to appear. 

Relief and Emancipation

• 1778: Catholic Relief Act (18 George III c. 60). This Act, which led to the Gordon Riots:
  • allowed catholics to join the armed forces without taking an oath of allegiance to the Church of England
  • repealed laws prosecuting catholic priests, including the penalty of perpetual imprisonment for keeping a school
  • enabled catholics to inherit and purchase land, and a protestant heir no longer had power to take over the estate of a catholic kinsman.
• 1791: Catholic Relief Act. (31 George III, c. 32) This Act was far more far-reaching and freed catholics from prosecution for:
  • being educated as a catholic
  • hearing Mass or saying it
  • assisting or performing any Catholic rites or ceremonies
  • being a priest
  • belonging to an ecclesiastical order or community in the Church of Rome.
• 1793: A Relief Act give some Irish catholics the rights to:
  • vote in elections but not to sit in Parliament
  • attend university 
  • take government office (but they were still excluded from the higher offices and being king's counsel).

Even with this relief, Catholic marriages and mass had to take place in private. Harriet Wynne, for example, was married by a Catholic priest in a school room and again by a Church of England priest in church. 

An Act for the Relief of His Majesty's Roman Catholic Subjects. 10 Geo. IV c. 7.

Daniel O'Connell, a campaigner for emancipation, was elected for County Clare but could not take his seat in Parliament. Prime Minister Wellington realised that the situation in Ireland could not be controlled, short of a standing army or agreeing to emancipation. Although he had previously opposed emancipation, Wellington brought the Act forward despite the opposition of King George IV. It was passed on 13 April, 1829.

The Act allowed catholics to:

• serve as members of lay corporations
• sit in Parliament (except catholic clergy)
• be appointed to most crown offices, except Lord Chancellor, Keeper of the Great Seal, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland. 

The Act of Settlement of 1701 still bars British monarchs from being, or marrying, a catholic. And with the Prime Minister still being involved in appointing senior members of the Church of England, a catholic Prime Minister is considered to be 'constitutionally awkward.'

The Dukes and the Catholic Question

The Grenville commitment to emancipation was long standing. The mother and sister of the first Duke, Richard Temple, were both catholics and he followed his father in promoting the cause of emancipation. It was perhaps the only cause on which Richard Temple never politically wavered. 

His son, Richard Chandos, followed the hard-line Protestant position taken by his mother. While his father was abroad between August 1827 and November 1829, Chandos became one of the leading opponents of emancipation, opposing the 1825 Bill (which fell in the House of Lords) and the successful 1829 Bill.