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A major impediment to increasing the number of churches in the newly expanded towns was the difficulty in providing a regular income for an incumbent parson. Most parish livings in the Church of England were then primarily supported from agricultural [[tithe]]s collected from farms in the parish. In expanding towns and cities, new churches had tended to be provided in association with residential developments as [[proprietary chapel]]s, whose licensed ministers received an income from [[pew rents]]. Neither method of finance had proved capable of funding the provision of clergy for poorer urban populations.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}
During the early 1810s groups were formed to address these problems by both active parties in the Church of England, the [[Evangelicalism|Evangelicals]] and the [[High Church]]men.<ref>{{Harvnb|Port|2006|pp=18–19.}}</ref> [[Joshua Watson]], a [[Laity|layman]], was a prominent member of the High Church group; he has been described as "the greatest lay churchman of his day" and was to become "the cornerstone of the [Church Building] Commission", on which he served for 33 years.<ref>{{Harvnb|Port|2006|p=19.}}</ref> Because of the legal structure of the Church of England, it was "almost indispensable to obtain an Act of Parliament before a church was rebuilt, or a new one built " and "to divide a parish an Act was essential".<ref>{{Harvnb|Port|2006|p=23.}}</ref> There was growing pressure for Parliament to meet the problems. Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 there was also a movement to build churches "as a "national thank-offering".<ref>{{Harvnb|Port|2006|pp=24–25.}}</ref> In December 1815 Joshua Watson and the [[pamphleteer]] [[John Bowdler]], wrote a "memorial" to the [[
==The Commission==
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