Contains Minute Books, Agenda Books, Reports from Sub-Committees, Annual Receipts and Expenditure (finance), and various correspondence and papers relating to the Church Defence Institution (also known as the (Central) Church Committee for Defence and Instruction).
Church Defence Institution
Archive Collection
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- ReferenceGB 109 CDI
- Dates of Creation1859-1923
- Language of MaterialEnglish
- Physical Description23 Boxes
Scope and Content
Administrative / Biographical History
The Church Defence Institution formed in 1859 with the aim of defending the Church of England against attacks from Nonconformists (chiefly the Liberation Society) and various Acts of Parliament such as the Welsh Disestablishment Bill, Church Rates Reform and the Burials Bill. The CDI intended to fight against these incursions by promoting the establishment of local branches of the Church Defence Institution, producing leaflets, lectures, and publications to promote the history, established position in society, and endowments of the Church.
The Church Defence Institution has had several different guises. It merged with an organisation called the Central Church Committee (founded in 1893 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward Benson, to defend against Welsh Disestablishment) in 1896. It was renamed accordingly to become the Church Committee for Church Defence and Church Instruction, and later, in 1908, simply the Church Committee for Defence and Instruction.
At a meeting of its Executive Committee on Wednesday 27 June 1923 [though the minutes appear to read 1927] the incorporation of the CDI into the National Assembly of the Church of England was discussed.
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