Georgian
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Protesting MPs: Peterloo and its aftermath
The Green Party MP Caroline Lucas is due to appear in court tomorrow after her involvement in anti-fracking protests during August. In a public statement Lucas argued that she ‘firmly believe[s] in the right to peaceful protest.’ She is, of…
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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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Impeachments and the British Parliament
Every year, the History of Parliament holds two competitions for schools and one for university students, for the best undergraduate dissertation to focus on Parliamentary or political history. We recently gave last year’s winner, Gary Hutchison, his prize for his dissertation…
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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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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…