SECOND CATHOLIC RELIEF ACT

The Second Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791

The Act passed by parliament to favour English Catholics was a definite relief for them; it was a milestone in English history. The Act did not give Catholics complete freedom and equality with their fellow citizens but it did mark 200 years of oppression. Catholics could now worship in registered chapels, though not more than five people could worship in a house. This was meant to prevent Catholics from gathering in numbers for mass in the houses of gentry as they had done for centuries; they had to celebrate mass in public buildings.

Priests all over England promptly applied to register chapels for worship. The existing chapel at Lincoln was licensed and the chapel built by Richard Knight S.J. at Market Rasen was registered at Kirton Sessions on October 6th 1791. The necessary oath was taken by George Shuttleworth and the Rev. James Leslie, making the chapel and school at Rasen lawful. In the next ten years following the Relief Act 24 chapels were to be registered, but in the first year there were only two. The local gentry living in Kingerby Hall and Claxby House could now only have a congregation at masses celebrated in their homes limited by law to five persons, so they decided to construct a freestanding building for the celebration of Mass and register it as a public place for Catholic worship. They decided to build this chapel in the village of Osgodby, midway between Kingerby Hall and Claxby House.