The Church of England Record Society was founded in 1991 with the object of promoting interest in, and knowledge of, the history of the Church of England from the sixteenth century onwards. The Society aims to do this through the publication of scholarly editions of primary material which is of significance for the history of the church. Its series of publications began in 1994 with the appearance of Kenneth Fincham's first volume of his edition of Visitation articles and injunctions of the early Stuart church. With six volumes published to date, that series is now well established, and Council felt that the time was appropriate to provide a forum for the publication of shorter documents which could not form volumes by themselves. This was the rationale behind the decision to publish a 'miscellany’ as the Society's seventh volume.

In putting together this volume we have made a deliberate effort to include material from the full range of the Society's chronological coverage, from the sixteenth century (represented by pieces on Archbishop Cranmer and Edward Brocklesby) to the twentieth (represented by Archbishop Davidson). Much to our regret the nineteenth century has yet to feature in the Society's publications, and it is, therefore, a particular pleasure that the most substantial single contribution to this volume is Arthur Burns's edition of W. J. Conybeare's influential article on nineteenth-century ‘Church parties'.

The Society's Council hopes that occasional miscellany volumes will now form a regular part in its programme of publications. To this end the general editor will be pleased to receive proposals for contributions to future volumes. Future miscellanies, however, need not take the form of the present one. Indeed, the editor would be particularly pleased to receive proposals for ‘themed’ miscellanies, focusing on a particular period or issue in the history of the church.

The general editor is grateful to the contributors for their efforts to meet sometimes tight deadlines and for their assistance in compiling the index. He is particularly indebted to Arthur Burns for his work in preparing the camera ready copy for his contribution.