 On the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales by Pope Pius IX on 29 September 1850, most of the Eastern District became the Diocese of Northampton.Its first bishop was William Wareing, previously Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District.On 13 March 1976, by decree Quod Ecumenicum, Pope Paul VI formed the Diocese of East Anglia for the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk by detaching these counties from the Diocese of Northampton.