Members of the Society of Dependants were Protestant dissenters whose beliefs largely derived from Wesleyan Arminianism. They believed in the people's ability to exercise free will and thereby achieve salvation rather than the Calvinistic assertion of predestination. They were conscientious objectors to the war and were encouraged but not required to remain unmarried. Beginning in the 1850s meetings were held on commons or in barns and faced great opposition from the landed gentry and the clergy. Both men and women preached, which was unusual at that time, seeking converts among the poor and humble.