Anti-Disestablishment Demonstration at Wrexham, 9 August 1913

Description

This photograph shows the Mold contingent taking part in the anti-Disestablishment demonstration held in Wrexham on 13 August 1913. Their banner reads 'Mold - Right is Might and will Prevail'. Another banner reads: 'England and Wales, One Nation, One Church'.

During the late-nineteenth century onwards, the campaign for the Disestablishment of the Anglican Church had became a central issue in Welsh political and religious life. Disestablishment was seen by many Nonconformists as a particularly 'Welsh' cause, and was an issue which was embraced wholeheartedly by the Welsh Liberal Party from the 1880s onwards. However, as this photograph shows, many Welsh people, notably members of the Conservative Party and Anglican church, did not share such views and were strongly opposed to Disestablishment.

Following the collapse of the Liberal government in 1895, the issue had remained unresolved for over a decade, but with the election of a new Liberal government in 1906, which included David Lloyd George as a Cabinet member, the Disestablishment campaign was given a new impetus. A Royal Commission was appointed to report on the matter and in 1914 the Welsh Church Bill received its Royal assent. Owing to the outbreak of the First World War, the matter was again left unresolved and it was not until 1920 that the Welsh Disestablishment Act was finally passed.