A history of post-Disruption Scottish Presbyterian dissent and its religious, political, and social influence

Emphasises the role of the underexplored United Presbyterian Church in influencing Scottish religious identity in the mid-nineteenth century, thus moving post-Disruption historiography beyond simple comparisons between the Established and Free churches and opening up possibilities for further research into Scottish dissent
Argues that the changing relationships within Scottish dissent between 1843 and 1863 had a lasting and fundamental impact on Scottish religion for much of the next century, culminating in the formation of the United Free Church in 1900 and the 1929 reunion of the Church of Scotland
Discusses the important role Scotland's dissenters played in the major ecclesiastical, political, and social issues of the mid-nineteenth century, such as the debates over the church-state relationship, electoral politics, anti-popery controversies, education reform, and poor law reform
Based on extensive archival research, including church minutes and financial records, newspapers, and private correspondence between the leading religious and political figures of the period such as Thomas Chalmers

The Disruption of the Church of Scotland was one of the most important events in Victorian Britain and had a profound and lasting impact on Scottish religion, politics and society. This book provides the first detailed account of the two major non-established Presbyterian denominations in the two decades after 1843, which together accounted for roughly half of Scotland's churchgoers: the Free Church, formed by those who left the Established Church at the Disruption, and the United Presbyterian Church, a consolidation of the various secessions of the previous century.

It explores how the relationship between these churches developed from the bitter feuds over the church-state connection prior to the Disruption to co-operation in the major ecclesiastical, political, and social matters of the day, paving the way to negotiations for merger commencing in 1863. The period between 1843 and 1863 redefined conceptions of what it meant to be Presbyterian and Scottish. By examining a key transitional period in Scottish history, this monograph charts how definitions of Presbyterianism, the Kirk, and dissent evolved as Scotland's national religion slowly moved from the divisions of the previous century towards eventual reunion in 1929.