Everybody in England was Catholic in the 16th century until the Reformation. 
Ah, good catch - I got my centuries mixed up. Always had a bit of a blind spot for that! I meant the 17th century - A good number of Smallmans around Ditton Priors seem to have remained Catholics well after the reformation, or at least according to that source.
Although I'm beginning to think in my case that the reason may have more to do with location than anything else. I've found the marriage records of two of Mary Smallman's sisters (and I
think I've found the third). Her younger sisters Sarah and Ann were both married in Much Wenlock by license, in 1795 and 1797 respectively. The other sister, Martha was married in 1787 in Monkhopton by banns (I'm not 100% sure on this one, but one of the signed witnesses was Thomas Smallman, who I believe to be the girls' father).
So in my case, at least, it may have had more to do with getting married away from the home village?
