Patronage Act 1711
Patronage was a much less disputed issue in the Anglican Church, and the dispossessed Scottish lay Patrons were able to persuade the united, and mainly Anglican, Parliament of Great Britain that they had unjustly lost a purely civil right. Their case may have been strengthened by the fact that Article 20 of the Treaty of Union had preserved all heritable rights and jurisdictions of pre-Union Scotland. It also helped that the British Government distrusted popular participation in matters of importance, as the selection of Parish Ministers certainly was. Consequently, the Church Patronage (Scotland) Act 1711 was passed, restoring to their original owners the right to present suitably qualified candidates to Presbyteries in the event of a vacancy. Only those Patron's who had renounced their claim in writing in return for compensation were excluded from this, of which there were only three in 1711, Cadder, Old and New Monklands The effect was the restoration of the situation as it was in 1592. Patrons had to swear oaths of allegiance to the Hanoverian Kings, and “abjure” the claims of the Stuart Pretenders. If they could not do this, they could appoint Commissioners who could to exercise their Patronage in their name. Patrons did not need to be members of the Church of Scotland.
The Act came into force on 1 May 1712.
Read more about this topic: Church Patronage (Scotland) Act 1711
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