Benjamin Disraeli
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‘The first humble beginnings of an agitation’: the women’s suffrage petition of 7 June 1866
The campaign to secure the parliamentary vote for women was a long-running one. Dr Kathryn Rix, assistant editor of our House of Commons, 1832-1868 project, looks at the first mass petition on this issue. On 7 June 1866 the first…
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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 didn’t need extra encouragement to tend to their gardens. In this, the first of two blogs, guest blogger Dr Jonathan…
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A ‘noble’ and ‘magnificent’ occasion: MPs and Queen Victoria’s coronation
Recent reports indicate that the coronation of King Charles III will have a reduced audience; less than 100 MPs and peers have been formally invited. Dr Kathryn Rix, assistant editor of our Commons 1832-1868 project, reflects on the guestlist for Queen Victoria’s coronation…
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Tackling electoral corruption: how Victorian Britain reformed the trial of election petitions in 1868
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the passing of the Election Petitions and Corrupt Practices at Elections Act, an important part of the electoral reforms which had begun with the Second Reform Act of 1867. Dr. Kathryn Rix of our Victorian…
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The 1868 Boundary Act: Disraeli’s attempt to control his ‘leap in the dark’?
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the 1868 Boundary Act. As Martin Spychal of the Commons 1832-68 Section discusses in today’s blog, the oft-neglected story of the Act provides several key insights into Britain’s second Reform Act and, in…

