During the reign of Elizabeth I, England became a Protestant country. The persecution of Roman Catholics began, and continued for two centuries. Events such as the Spanish Armada (1588), the Gunpowder Plot (1605), the Popish Plot (1678), and the Jacobite Rebellions (1715 and 1745) aroused extensive hostility, and caused ‘recusancy’ (the refusal to attend Church of England services) to be outlawed. The ‘Papists’ were dominated by the gentry and aristocracy, who had the resources to defend themselves against severe penal laws that could ruin those of lower status.
Those laws were gradually abolished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. At the same time, numbers rose rapidly due to the influx of Irish immigrants fleeing poverty and famine.
In the penal period, Catholics rarely kept records that
