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“Contrary to the fundamental laws of nature”? The passage of the Declaratory Act, March 1766

Robin Eagles

March 17, 2016

250 years ago this week Parliament passed the ‘Declaratory Act’, aimed at limiting the damage of the earlier repeal of the Stamp Act. In the second of two blogs on the issue, Dr Robin Eagles, Senior Research Fellow in the…
Parliament, Politics & People Seminar: Coleman Dennehy, ‘Dublin, Westminster, and appellate jurisdiction in early modern Ireland’

History of Parliament

February 16, 2016

At our latest ‘Parliaments, Politics and People’ Seminar of 2016, Dr Coleman Dennehy (University College, Dublin) spoke on ‘Dublin, Westminster, and appellate jurisdiction in early modern Ireland’. Here he discusses his paper… The history of appellate jurisdiction in Ireland, although…
‘The Story of Parliament’: Pitt and Fox

Paul Seaward

February 9, 2016

Last year the History published ‘The Story of Parliament: Celebrating 750 years of parliament in Britain’ to mark the anniversary of Simon de Montfort’s parliament in 1265. The book is a brief introduction to the full 750 years of parliamentary…
‘Very grievous and unconstitutional’? The repeal of the (American) Stamp Act (1766)

Robin Eagles

January 28, 2016

250 years ago this month Parliament was debating the fate of the Stamp Act – the law which proved dangerously unpopular in Britain’s American colonies. In the first of two blogs on the issue, Dr Robin Eagles, Senior Research Fellow…
‘The Story of Parliament’: The office of Prime Minister in the 18th Century

Robin Eagles

January 6, 2016

Earlier this year the History published ‘The Story of Parliament: Celebrating 750 years of parliament in Britain’ to mark the anniversary of Simon de Montfort’s parliament in 1265. The book is a brief introduction to the full 750 years of…
Was Wilberforce the only influential parliamentarian abolitionist? Certainly not…

History of Parliament

December 9, 2015

Joining the History of Parliament on work experience during the summer, A level student Georgina Hands came across the Trust whilst using our website for a school history project. Here she blogs for us about her research into parliamentary abolitionists…
The ‘Story of Parliament’: Parliament and the press

Emma Peplow

December 1, 2015

Earlier this year the History published ‘The Story of Parliament: Celebrating 750 years of parliament in Britain’ to mark the anniversary of Simon de Montfort’s parliament in 1265. The book is a brief introduction to the full 750 years of…
Two battles and a siege: Sheriffmuir and Preston, 12-14 November 1715

Robin Eagles

November 12, 2015

300 years ago the battles of Sheriffmuir and Preston signalled the effective end of the 1715 Jacobite rebellion. Dr Robin Eagles, Senior Research Fellow in the House of Lords 1660-1832 section, tells us more… The 1745 rebellion, replete with romantic…
The ‘Poor Palatines’ – political ramifications of eighteenth century migration

Robin Eagles

September 3, 2015

Migration has rarely been politically uncontroversial, as Dr Robin Eagles, Senior Research Fellow in the House of Lords 1660-1832 section, discusses… The current migrant crisis may be on a wider scale than has been seen for a number of years,…
The long-lived charter: Magna Carta’s 800 year legacy

History of Parliament

June 15, 2015

800 years ago today, Magna Carta was sealed at Runnymede. In the last of our series celebrating the anniversaries of Magna Carta and Simon de Montfort’s Parliament, Dr Alexander Lock, Curator of Modern Historical Manuscripts at the British Library and…
The youngest MP since…?

Paul Seaward

May 12, 2015

Following the election of Mhairi Black last week, many of you have asked us about young MPs! Over to our Director, Dr Paul Seaward… Many have said that Mhairi Black’s election as the SNP Member of Parliament for Paisley and…
‘Horsham is Lady Irwin’s Borough’: the power of the 18th Century political widow

History of Parliament

April 29, 2015

We continue our series on election campaigning through the centuries today, with an example of the power aristocratic women could hold in the pre-1832 electoral system. Elaine Chalus, Professor of British History in Bath Spa University, discusses the story of…