First Communion Country Trends: England


Figure 1.--First Communion suits can be quite simple, at least for the boys. Paul Gallagher, brother of Noel and Liam of Oasis fame, here in 1973 wears a white shirt and bow tie with his grey school shorts. To make the outfit a little special, mother has replaced grey school socks with white socks. Or perhaps this was rge recommendd outfit from his Catholic school. These double t-bar sandals may be his school shoes, although single bar sandals were more common. We note one school that had the boys wear white shoes or sandals.

We do not yet have much information on English First Communion suits during the 19th Century and early 20th Century. While a largely Protestant country, there is a substantial Catholic minority. Since Tudor days the Catholics have been an opressed minority, only winning their civil rights in the 19th century. Catholics have been largely working class Britons. Many Irish immigrated to Britain beginning with the Potato Famine of the 1840s. This substatially increased the Catholic population. Money for an expensive First Communion suit was not always available. This issue was addressed in The Green Years, although the story was set in Scotland. The Government eventually began to support Catholic schools and continues to do so today. Many schools had the boys use part of their school uniform for First Communion. First Communion was an important milestone for Roman Catholic children at the age of 7 or 8 years during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The outfits the boys wore varied. An English contributor to HBC recalls in the 1960s getting a new short pants suit for First Communion. Some of his school mates got long pants suits. He does not recall boys wearing white suits, but all the girls had long dresses. Other boys just wore white shirts with their grey school shorts, perhaps with white socks and white footwear. We note one school which had the boys wear this outfit. All parents had to do ws to buy the hte scks and footwear. Some times regulr shoes and sandals were worn. The boy here in 1973 is a good example (figure 1).

English Religious Trends

While traditionally seen as a largely Protestant country, the Anglican Vhurh of Englnd is also seen as a middle way between Protestntism and Cthocism rather than as a Protestnt Church. There is a substantial Catholic minority. Since Tudor days the Catholics have been an opressed minority, in part because they resisted the Rformation and the monrchy's break with the Catholic Church. Catholics only won their civil rights in the 19th century.

Etnicity

There are two major groups of English Catholics. One group is Englishm the recusants. They are the descendants of continuously Catholic British families, including the gentry and peerage families. There are English Catholics who come from families that remained Catholic through the Reformation. This was for a time very dangerous. Catholicism remained the majority religion in various pockets, notably in parts of Lancashire and Cumbria. The otgher group are migrants from Ireland. Many Irish immigrated to Britain beginning with the Potato Famine of (1840s). This substatially increased the Catholic population. Many rural Irish people migrated from the countryside to England, seeking jobs in the cities of te western coast, especially Liverpool. Nearly half the city is now of Irish ancestry. This group is largely working class. The Catholic portion of the English population increased during the 19th century. And it nearly doubled during the 20h centry, This is almost entirely due to Irish immigration and ahigher birthrate among Catholic families, espcially Irish Catholics. Catholics are noe nearly 10 percent of the English population.

First Communion Outfits

Money for an expensive First Communion suit was not always available. This issue was addressed in The Green Years, although the story was set in Scotland. The Government eventually began to support Catholic schools and continues to do so today. Many schools had the boys use part of their school uniform for First Communion. First Communion was an important milestone for Roman Catholic children at the age of 7 or 8 years during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The outfits the boys wore varied. An English contributor to HBC recalls in the 1960s getting a new short pants suit for First Communion. It was a standard suit that could be worn for other occassions. Some of his school mates got long pants suits. He does not recall boys wearing white suits, but all the girls had elaborate white junior wedding dresses. They tended to belong dresses until hortstyles became fashionable in the 1ate-1960s. Other boys just wore white shirts with their grey school shorts, perhaps with white socks and white footwear.

Chronology

We do not yet have much information on English First Communion outfits during the 19th Century and early-20th Century. Our English archive is fairly limited. We have found some images during the seciond-half of the 20th century. We note one school which had the boys wear this outfit. This would have been very inexpensive for the parents. This would hav beenhelpful for working-class families. All parents had to do was to buy the white socks and footwear. The girls wear the standard junior wedding dresses connly worn in many countries for First Communion. Unlike the boys;' outfit, this would have been an expensove purchase and one the girlswould not have worn for other occassions. Some times regular shoes and sandals were worn. The boy here in 1973 is a good example, probably another school outfit (figure 1). For this outfit the parents would probably just have to buy the white socks as ordinary colored sandals were used.








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Created: March 18, 2001
Last edited: 9:03 PM 1/25/2018