Art, Fashion and Material Culture
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‘The Tartan Rage’: Fashion, High Society, and Scottish Identity in Eighteenth-Century London
At the IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar on Tuesday 25 November, Dr Natalee Garrett of The Open University, will be discussing Jane, duchess of Gordon and the Romanticisation of Scottish Identity in London, c.1780-1812. The seminar takes place on…
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‘Confirmation of the People’s Rights’: commemorating the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688
For many, the beginning of November means the advent of longer nights as the year winds down to Christmas. Some may still enjoy attending firework displays marking the failure of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot. In November 1788, though, serious efforts…
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John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes of Truro (later earl of Radnor): reading in the revolution
In this guest article, Dr Sophie Aldred, lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Oxford, explores the library of Lord Robartes and what it tells us of his political position during the revolutionary years of the 1640s. Variously…
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Descended from a giant: the Worsleys of Hovingham
The recent death of HRH the Duchess of Kent, who was married to the late queen’s cousin at York Minister in 1961, reminds us of her family’s long association with Yorkshire. This has included two brothers who served as archbishop…
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Did they believe in portents? Severe weather and other extreme natural phenomena in Walsingham’s Chronica Maiora and other late-medieval monastic chronicles
Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the theme of extreme weather in medieval chronicles. It is a familiar theme in medieval chronicles, whether monkish or secular, that extreme weather, natural disaster or even just unusual events were, or,…
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Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916): the social life of a queer MP at the time of the Second Reform Act
In the second article in his series on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), Dr Martin Spychal explores Gower’s London social life during his first year in Parliament, including a brief summer romance with the son of the commissioner of the Metropolitan…
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Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916): the life of a queer MP at the time of the Second Reform Act
Dr Martin Spychal introduces his series of articles on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), who was elected as MP for Sutherland in 1867. This is the first of five articles originally published on the Victorian Commons website between February 2020 and…
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John Bowes (1811-85): the MP and his museum
In this article Dr James Owen looks at the career of John Bowes (1811-85). Best known as an art collector and colliery owner, Bowes was MP for Durham South, 1832-47, but had a far greater impact outside Parliament than at…
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Bloomsbury Square and the Gordon Riots
For almost 20 years, Bloomsbury Square has been the home to the History of Parliament. In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles considers the history of the square in one of its most turbulent periods. Bloomsbury…
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Producing, Performing and Curating Radicalism: How was radical material culture produced, used and curated in early 19th century Britain?
Ahead of next Tuesday’s Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Dr Caitlin Kitchener. On 28 January Caitlin will discuss the production, use and curation of radical material culture in the early nineteenth century. The seminar takes place on…
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A ‘cook’d up’ affair: Queen Charlotte’s 1794 Epiphany Ball
The Court of George III and Queen Charlotte has often been characterized as a rather dull affair, a stark contrast to the more glitzy events on offer in the household of their son, the Prince of Wales. Just how ad…
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When tinsel was only for the rich: dressing to impress in early modern England
Wondering what to wear to a Christmas or New Year party? Deciding how to look one’s best can be a dilemma – but at least our fashion choices aren’t dictated by Acts of Parliament. In Tudor and Jacobean times it…