COMO ENTENDER UNA ORGANIZACIÓN

1853 Leighton (exaggerated) 1864 Bwlch-y-cibau (correct)

By 1892 it seems living conditions for most in Man had improved. At a bazaar held in August 1892 to raise funds for improvements to the interior of new Ballaugh Parish Church the Bishop was quoted as saying: ‘[...] the homes of the people of the Isle of Man, and on the whole on the mainland generally, are very much better than they were thirty or forty years ago’ (Kermode et al. 1877-1934: 76) although one cannot be certain that his personal experiences extended beyond the homes of his social equals. However, episcopal activity between 1894 and 1898 requesting that the Easter offerings be given to Manx incumbents implied recognition that the falling value of tithes that decreased clerical stipends caused ‘great distress among the clergy’ (Gelling 1998: 197).

In Wales economic factors began to take precedence over class, perhaps facilitated by Nonconformist relationships between ministers and people, which were not as hierarchical as in the Church of England. Clashes between Anglican

landowners and ordinary people who supported Nonconformism may have weakened ties between tenants and landowners and strengthened those between tenant farmers and industrialists.

In pre-1914 England, Anglican clergymen continued to be perceived of as part of the upper class and many laymen accepted that clergymen might spend a great deal of time away from parish work contributing nothing to the economy. ‘As long as he could afford a hard-working curate he rightly considered it his own affair if he chose to spend three days a week playing in club and country-house matches all over the country’ (Sassoon, 1937: 58). However, the new century heralded much social change. The Archbishop of Canterbury accepted this when he formally granted people permission to work in the fields on Sundays in 1914 (ibid: 455). It was not discovered how this edict was received in Man. But war memorials inside churches in all regions that recorded the courage and worth of men regardless of social status recognized the extraordinary impact of the 1914-1918 war onto all British communities, albeit the dead were listed according to rank and excluded most women who died because of their war work. It seemed that those in authority strove to perpetuate traditional perceptions that marginalized the worth of contributions made by those perceived as having low social and gender capital.

Conclusions

Parliamentary law and the long, pervious border with England that facilitated English involvement in Welsh affairs was less visible in Man, where jurisdiction from Tynwald prevailed except when the Island was specifically mentioned within Parliamentary Acts.

Subtle differences in patterns of early modern social status were noted between Manx and Welsh communities. Sources suggested that many Manx clergymen rarely moved off-Island until the nineteenth century and spoke, dressed and lived much as their fellow countrymen did. Social distinctions appeared to have been widest between indigenous people inclusive of their bilingual clergy and their English religious and civil superiors. In contrast, in Wales even early modern bilingual clergymen often pursued opportunities for more prestigious employment in England, leaving curates paid at lower rates to officiate for them at home. Social divisions became more evident over time between those who spoke only Welsh and those who spoke English, whether they were Welsh or English. In Man and in Wales, use of English became a shared route to economic success whereas in England, social divisions seemed more related to literacy and access to higher education, many being excluded. Nevertheless by the end of the period studied the Welsh had actively restored widespread use of Welsh language, often via

Nonconformity, and had disestablished the Church in Wales. The Manx were less active in this respect. English became the norm, Tywald kept control of Insular ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the Anglican Church remained established despite the eventual arrival and widespread adoption of Nonconformism.

Documentary sources accessed were most often produced in context with official events. Related shared prescriptive and subjective high status habitus

revealed aspects of social relationships throughout the whole period considered. Many documents unwittingly referred to long-gone material culture, adding an extra dimension for their interpretation that descriptions of events alone could never convey. It was this aspect of historical sources that has contributed most usefully to the following chapters, which have considered post-Reformation ecclesiastical material culture for evidence of human and material interactivity.

In conclusion, despite the shared aspect of Anglicanism between English, Welsh and Manx cultures that supported their consideration as geographical contexts

for each other, the literature highlighted regionally-specific political, religious and social variations between the three. The historical timeline on pages 92-98 has précised some of the regionally-specific activities discussed in this chapter as a quick reference for readers unfamiliar with Welsh and Manx variations of English

historical events. Discrepancies in rules, their interpretation, and availability of resources noted in the material culture within established churches and chapels-of- ease that reflected structuration ideas about variations of human agency, and perceptions of material activity, facilitated the enquiries made within the following chapters.