18th Century history
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Review of the year 2013
As 2013 draws to an end, we’re looking back at another busy year at the History of Parliament, ready for another exciting year in 2014! Our five research sections have been busy as normal – not just researching but revising…
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The House of Commons and Foreign Policy: Lord North and Yorktown
During this afternoon’s Prime Minister’s Questions the fall-out from last Thursday’s dramatic Commons vote on Syria continued. David Cameron admitted that he regretted the outcome of the vote but, once again, ruled out any British military involvement in Syria against…
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Thomas Potter, MP for St Germans, Aylesbury and Okehampton
Dr Robin Eagles looks at the colourful life of Thomas Potter, who was first elected to parliament in the summer of 1747… During the summer of 1747, the ministry of Henry Pelham responded to a challenge caused by the heir to the…
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Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Nigel Aston ‘Out of retirement: Lord Lansdowne and opposition politics in the 1790s’
At our last ‘parliaments, politics and people’ seminar, Dr Nigel Aston (University of Leicester) spoke on William Petty, Lord Lansdowne and his role as an opposition politician in the 1790s. He surveyed Lansdowne’s years after his term as Prime Minister…
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‘There has been all along something odd in this affair’: The Malt Tax and the 1713 attempt to repeal the Union
300 years ago this month, arguments over the Malt Tax nearly brought the fledgling Union between England and Scotland to a quick end. Dr Robin Eagles tells us more… Next year the people of Scotland will be offered the opportunity…
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The Peace of Utrecht, April 1713
300 years ago this April, a series of treaties known as the Peace of Utrecht was signed to end the War of Spanish Succession (1702-13). Dr Charles Littleton tells us more… The War of Spanish succession began after the Spanish…
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The Treaty of Paris, John Wilkes and North Briton Number 45
On 23 April 1763, John Wilkes published his famous ‘North Briton No.45’, attacking George III and his Prime Minister, the Earl of Bute. Dr Robin Eagles tells us more… George III came to the throne in 1760 determined to bring…
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Parliamentarians in the courts…
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Old Bailey Online (happy anniversary!) Dr Ruth Paley, editor of the Lords 1660-1832 section, shares some 18th Century criminal trials. The Victorian Commons are also blogging for the anniversary of Old Bailey online.…
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Parliaments Politics and People seminar: Andrew Thompson (Queens’ Cambridge) ‘George II, Power and Parliament’
Dr Robin Eagles reports back from our latest ‘Parliament, politics and people‘ seminar… Neither of the first two Hanoverian monarchs has fared well in popular perception. Both have been dismissed as remote, stolid and very foreign. Our latest seminar by…
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Parliament and religion: the defeat of the first Occasional Conformity Bill, January 1703
After last week’s rulings from the European Court of Human Rights on religious discrimination in the workplace, Dr Charles Littleton discusses the issue of religious discrimination in 18th Century Britain. Debates about the right to express one’s faith according to…