The Social and Religious Picture at the End of the Long Nineteenth Century

As the Victorian era drew to a close both the social and economic conditions experienced by most Catholics in their daily lives were far from ideal, and there was little or no improvement forthcoming. This was true whether they were living in the country or in the large towns and cities. Bishop Lacy explained the general scenario when, in 1895, he enumerated what he considered to be the main problems in society and which he felt provided the greatest hindrance to Catholic faith and practice:

In this statement, he expounded what has become the classic critique of life in the late Victorian period. Despite the Temperance movements drunkenness remained a huge problem in society and it was exacerbated by the general economic situation. On Teesside, for example, the lingering trade depression continued to grip the area until the events of the First World War provided a short-term economic boom.

York too had high levels of poverty amongst its Catholic population. Despite its position as a regional hub for the railway system, the economic basis for the town depended essentially upon its position as a centre for local agriculture and family-run manufacturing businesses, particularly in the area of cocoa-processing and confectionery. Particularly influential in this regard was the Rowntree family, whose Quaker beliefs underpinned much of their development of this commodity at this time. For example in 1879, the introduction of hydraulic presses to squeeze roasted cocoa beans resulted in a cocoa drink that was marketed as an alternative to beer to sustain and refresh manual workers. It became known as a Quaker ‘temperance drink’. In 1901, Seebohm Rowntree published the results of a study into the lives of the working population in York, which concluded that the conditions in York were fairly representative of those found in most English provincial towns.