Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874 - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition public-worship-regulation-act-1874

Definition :

Public Worship Regulation Act, 1874 (English) (37 & 38 Vict. c. 85). By this Act'which proceeds on the preamble that it is expedient that in certain cases further regulations should be made for the administration of the laws relating to the performance of divine service according to the use of the Church of England'it was provided that whensoever a vacancy should occur in the office of official principal of the Arches Court of Canterbury (see ARCHES COURT), the judge appointed under that Act should become ex officio such official principal, and all proceedings thereafter taken before the judge in relation to mattes arising within the province of Canterbury should be deemed to be taken in the Arches Court of Canterbury. The Court may be set in motion on representation by one archdeacon, or churchwarden, or any three parishioners declaring themselves to be members of the Church of England: (1) that in any church any alteration in or addition to the fabric, ornaments, or furniture thereof has been made without lawful authority, or that any decoration forbidden by law has been introduced into such church; or (2) that the incumbent has within the preceding twelve months used or permitted to be used in such church or burial ground any unlawful ornament of the minister of the church, or neglected to use any prescribed ornament orvesture; or (3) that the incumbent has within the preceding twelve months failed to observe, or to cause to be observed, the directions contained in the Book of Common Prayer relating to the performance in such church or burial ground of the services, rites, and ceremonies ordered by the said book, or has made or permitted to be made any unlawful addition to, alteration of, or omission from, such services, rites, and ceremonies. Rules and Orders have been issued under the Act. Lord Penzance was appointed judge shortly after its passing. The Act as been set in motion upon but few occasions, and the meaning and effect of it has been vigorously contested upon each of them, sometimes on very technical points. See, e.g., Hudson v. Tooth, (1877) 3 QBD 16, and Ex parte Dale, (1881) 6 QBD 376, in which latter case the Rev. T.P. Dale, after having been committed to prison by Lord Penzance, was discharged by writ of Habeas Corpus granted by the Court of Appeal. The Rev. S.F. Green, however, was imprisoned by a valid sentence, and discharged only upon his benefice becoming void (see s. 13 of the Act). See WORSHIP.