18th Century history
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Reflections on the Organise! Organise! Organise! Conference
Continuing our series reflecting on the Organise! Organise! Organise! conference hosted by Durham University and supported by the History of Parliament, guest blogger Erin Geraghty, Teaching Associate at the University of Nottingham, shares her thoughts on the fresh perspectives offered…
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Everyday Experiences of Politics: Material Culture in the Age of Reform, 1780-1832
Our Parliaments, Politics and People seminar is back for the autumn term! At next week’s seminar Kerry Love of the University of Northampton will discuss material culture and the everyday experience of politics between 1780 and 1832. The seminar takes place…
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Tackling congestion in 18th-century London
In the course of the 18th century, Britain’s towns became increasingly congested with private carriages as well as a variety of carts, drays and hackney coaches going about their business. For pedestrians it could make negotiating the streets a nightmare.…
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Soft power and stigma: Illegitimate children and the History of Parliament
In 2022, Kate Gibson, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Manchester, published her book Illegitimacy, Family and Stigma in England, 1660-1834. To measure the impact of stigma and disadvantage on children born outside of marriage she utilised the…
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‘the genuine foundation of our evils’: the Tea Duty Act and Boston Tea Party 250 years on
In the 18th century, tea was a popular drink in America. Yet the East India Company struggled to sell their produce which prompted the British government to pass the Tea Duty Act. Dr Robin Eagles, editor of the Lords 1660-1832…
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“Take care, or you will break my shins with this damned axe”: The trials of Lords Balmerino, Cromartie and Kilmarnock (Summer 1746)
The summer is normally a period for Parliament to go into recess, and for MPs and members of the Lords to take some time off. On extraordinary occasions, though, Parliament has been known to sit through the summer. As Dr…
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‘Kind patron of the mirthful fray’: the English aristocracy and cricket in the 18th century
The Ashes Test series currently under way provides an opportunity to consider the English aristocracy’s role in cricket’s early development in the 18th century. In this blog for the Georgian Lords Dr Charles Littleton looks back at some of the…
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Roundtable on Henry J. Miller, A Nation of Petitioners: Petitions and Petitioning in the United Kingdom, 1780-1918 (Cambridge, 2023)
Ahead of next Tuesday’s Parliaments, Politics and People roundtable seminar, we hear from Dr Henry Miller of the University of Durham. On 27 June between 5.30 p.m. and 7.00 p.m., Henry will discuss his book A Nation of Petitioners with Prof. Katrina…
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Who do they think they are? Lineage of members of the House of Lords
One thought he was descended from Adam, another that he was a Hapsburg prince. In this latest blog, Dr Robin Eagles, editor of the Lords 1660-1832 project, examines some of the more dramatic claims made by members of the House…
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Hogarth in Derby
From 10 March to 4 June 2023 Derby Museum and Art Gallery hosted an exhibition Hogarth’s Britons. Succession, Patriotism and the Jacobite Rebellion. Dr Stuart Handley reports back on a rich exhibition detailing Derby’s connexion to a pivotal moment in…
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‘Almost an afterthought’: Queen Charlotte
The latest series of Bridgerton – Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story – has captured viewers with a reimagining of the monarch’s life. But who was the real Queen Charlotte? And what was her marriage to George III actually like? Dr…
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‘The buzz, the prattle, the crowds, the noise, the hurry’: the Coronation of George III and Queen Charlotte
Royal celebrations in the Georgian period were renowned for their mixture of stately formality and farcical mix-ups. In the third of our series on 18th-century coronations, we turn to that of George III in the late summer of 1761, which…