The Elland Society was one of the leading Evangelical clerical societies established in the eighteenth century. It provided a forum in which a group of like-minded clergymen were able to discuss matters of common interest and concern, and played an important role in supporting young students who were intended for the ministry during their education at the universities and at a number of informal clerical seminaries.

This volume prints the surviving papers from the early years of the Society's existence - its rules, its minute books, the prayers used at Society meetings, and papers read by members - accompanied by notes and introduction. They offer a unique and fascinating insight into the nature and development of Evangelicalism within the Church of England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.