18th Century history
-
Four Scots Lords: One line in a Poem
Inspired by a reference in an early eighteenth-century poem, in the latest blog for the Georgian Lords, Dr Stuart Handley…
-
The Last Peer Hanged for Murder
In the latest blog for the Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles re-examines the trial and execution of Laurence Shirley, 4th…
-
‘Why not you?’ Sir John Cust, reluctant Speaker of the House of Commons
It is one of Westminster’s many traditions that, when an MP is elected to the role of Speaker of the…
-
The true premier? Charles Spencer, 3rd earl of Sunderland
300 years ago, on 19 April 1722, Charles Spencer, 3rd earl of Sunderland, Walpole’s rival for the premiership, died following…
-
Comings and goings: the other houses of Downing Street
Previously on the History of Parliament blog we looked into the history of No.10 Downing Street, the famous residence of…
-
After the Levellers: On the Non-Mysterious Disappearance of Parliamentary Reform in England
In our latest blog we’re returning to the ‘Recovering Europe’s Parliamentary Culture, 1500-1700’ project. Since late September, we’ve been working with the University of…
-
Female Dukes
In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Stuart Handley considers the cases of peerages held by women in…
-
Portraits, patrons, and political networks in late Stuart and early Georgian England
Ahead of next Tuesday’s Virtual IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Amy Lim of St Hilda’s College,…
-
‘Do you know where this miserable wretch lives?’: Challenging votes in Eighteenth-Century England
As the Government looks set to make the introduction of voter ID requirements a flagship policy for 2022, parallels can…
-
Double Dutch: two Dutch courtiers and the British dynasties they founded
In this latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Charles Littleton considers the histories of two Dutch families who went…
-
Death of a Queen: the tragic end of Caroline of Ansbach
In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles, considers the grisly end of Queen Caroline of Ansbach,…
-
“A great lover of forms, and a regular Speaker”: Sir Spencer Compton, Speaker of the House of Commons 1715-1727
Sir Spencer Compton, earl of Wilmington, is often overlooked, overshadowed by his colleague and predecessor Sir Robert Walpole. But as…