Victorian Commons
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Cricket in the Commons: a Victorian First Eleven
With the 2025 Ashes between England and Australia getting underway this week, we have a cricketing themed post from our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project. Historically, cricketing terminology, with its allusions to ‘fair play’ and playing with a ‘straight bat’,…
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The ladies’ gallery in the temporary House of Commons
This article from Dr Kathryn Rix, Assistant Editor of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 section, looks at the provision made for women to witness debates in the temporary chamber used by the Commons between 1835 and 1852. In the chamber used…
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The Westminster Fire of 1834
In this guest article, Dr Caroline Shenton, author of ‘The Day Parliament Burned Down‘ and ‘Mr Barry’s War: Rebuilding the Houses of Parliament after the Great Fire of 1834‘, describes the dramatic events that took place at the Palace of…
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The 1832 Reform Act
‘Was the 1832 Reform Act “Great”?’ may not be the standard exam question it once was, but ongoing research about the Act’s broader legacy and impact on political culture, based on new resources and analytical techniques, continues to reshape our…
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‘A place of business’: the temporary chamber of the House of Commons, 1835-1851
As part of our series on parliamentary buildings, Dr Kathryn Rix of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project looks at the temporary chamber used by the House of Commons from 1835 until 1851, after its previous chamber was destroyed by…
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The role and power of the Victorian House of Lords
Dr Philip Salmon looks at a key element of Parliament which we don’t usually have much opportunity to reflect on in our work on Victorian MPs and constituencies: the House of Lords. As he explains below, the upper chamber played…
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‘I have attached myself to no party’: Daniel Gaskell and parliamentary life in the 1830s
Our Victorian Commons project is shedding new light on the increasingly important role played in the behind-the-scenes business of the post-1832 House of Commons, particularly in the committee-rooms, by MPs who came from non-elite backgrounds. Dr Kathryn Rix looks at…
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‘The status of the Press is changed indeed’: the reporters’ gallery in the nineteenth-century House of Commons
Continuing our series on parliamentary buildings, Dr Kathryn Rix looks at the accommodation provided for the newspaper journalists who reported on the proceedings of the nineteenth-century House of Commons. The history of parliamentary reporting in the 19th century has two…
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From patent laws and prison reform to a threatened duel: the intriguing life of Benjamin Rotch MP
Untangling the eclectic career of Benjamin Rotch (1793-1854), Whig MP for Knaresborough, 1832-5, proved to be an extremely interesting piece of research for Dr Kathryn Rix of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project, taking in the Nantucket whaling industry, the…
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The remarkable rise of William Schaw Lindsay MP (1815-1877)
William Schaw Lindsay MP rose from poverty-stricken orphan to shipping tycoon by his late 30s. Lindsay was known for his involvement in the Administrative Reform Association (1855) after the perceived aristocratic mismanagement of the Crimean War. He was also an…
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A ‘revolution’ in electioneering? The impact of the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act
Concluding her series on the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act, Dr Kathryn Rix of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project looks at the long-term consequences of this major reform. In the wake of the corruption and expense of the 1880 general…
