18th Century history
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Two anniversaries, two impeachments and an election
In 2024 the tercentenaries of the deaths of two important 18th-century figures the fell within weeks of each other. Dr…
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Tory to Whig and back again
In recent weeks the factional nature of political parties has become apparent, with previous members speaking out against their leaders…
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Polling in advance of the votes
As the 2024 General Election campaigns continue this week, news outlets have been filled with many different polls, suggesting a…
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Histories of Scottish Politics in the Age of Union, c.1700-1945: Registration Open
Registration is now open for the conference Histories of Scottish Politics in the Age of Union, c.1700-1945, taking place at…
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Tory to Whig – or helping out the Family?
Historians J.B. Owen, J.H. Plumb, and Linda Colley have all alluded to the post-1714 drift of the Tories into the…
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Great Parliamentary Gardeners- The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Compared
The beginning of May marks the Royal Horticultural Society’s National Gardening Week, but many of the Parliamentarians in our volumes…
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Benjamin Franklin and the state of Britain in the time of Wilkes
A new series exploring Benjamin Franklin’s time in Europe launches on streaming services this month, but how did the American…
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Enter the Dragon: the education of Robert Harley
Robert Harley (1661-1724) was in his late 20s when he was first elected to Parliament as MP for Tregony in…
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‘Not voting at all’: the election of an imprisoned MP in 1769
2024 represents the 250th anniversary of John Wilkes’s re-election for Middlesex and election as Lord Mayor of London. It was…
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The political identity of ‘inhabitant’ in early nineteenth-century England
Ahead of next Tuesday’s Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Mary O’Connor of Somerville College, University of Oxford.…
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‘A very good bed for old courtiers to rest in’: The 18th-century Post Office and its Postmasters-General
Much attention has concentrated recently on the scandal surrounding the Post Office’s prosecutions of numerous sub-postmasters and -mistresses. The 18th-century…
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“Get a haircut”Celebrating the career of Lord Chancellor Cowper
10 May 2023 marked the 300th anniversary of the death of William Cowper, Earl Cowper, a rarity among political lawyers…