Minority Ethnic History

  • Black and Political: Reconstructing Black Participation in British Politics, 1750-1850

    Black and Political: Reconstructing Black Participation in British Politics, 1750-1850

    At a special joint session of the IHR’s Parliaments, Politics and People and British History in the Long 18th Century seminars on Wednesday 3 December, Dr Helen Wilson will be discussing Black participation in British Politics between 1750 and 1850.…

  • John Lewis: A Black Sailor at the 1828 Weymouth By-Election

    John Lewis: A Black Sailor at the 1828 Weymouth By-Election

    In this guest article Dr Joe Cozens discusses his research into John Lewis, a Black sailor who was arrested during the 1828 Weymouth by-election. Dr Cozens is a Nineteenth Century Social and Political Records Researcher at The National Archives, Kew.…

  • Peter McLagan (1823-1900): Scotland’s first Black MP

    Peter McLagan (1823-1900): Scotland’s first Black MP

    This is the first article in a new series for the Victorian Commons on Peter McLagan (1823-1900), by Dr Martin Spychal, Senior Research Fellow on our House of Commons 1832-1868 project. McLagan was the first Black MP to represent a…

  • Somerset v Stewart, 1772: an End to Slavery in Britain? 

    Somerset v Stewart, 1772: an End to Slavery in Britain? 

    The campaigning activities of abolitionist MPs such as William Wilberforce and Thomas Fowell Buxton are well-known, but one former MP, who had become a member of the House of Lords, was involved in this question in a rather different way.…

  • John London: Britain’s First Black Voter?

    John London: Britain’s First Black Voter?

    At first glance, the 1749 Westminster constituency by-election does not seem to warrant too much attention, with the incumbent, Viscount Trentham, being re-elected following his appointment to office. However, as Dr Gillian Williamson explores, the election provides the earliest known…

  • Catherine Despard (c.1755-1815): Wife, Mother, Radical advocate 

    Catherine Despard (c.1755-1815): Wife, Mother, Radical advocate 

    You may have heard of Catherine Despard from the television series Poldark. In this blog Helen Wilson, PhD candidate with the History of Parliament and Open University, who is researching the Black and Mixed Ethnicity Presence in British Politics, 1750-1850,…

  • Profile of an 18th century Black Voter: George John Scipio Africanus

    Profile of an 18th century Black Voter: George John Scipio Africanus

    In a second blog for this year’s Black History Month, we are once again hearing from Helen Wilson, PhD candidate with the History of Parliament and the Open University. Within Helen’s research she has been uncovering the previously overlooked presence…

  • The Presence of Black Voters in the 18th and 19th Centuries

    The Presence of Black Voters in the 18th and 19th Centuries

    October is Black History Month in the UK, as institutions like the History of Parliament attempt to re-insert and highlight the Black experience into fields of history previously overlooking this. Here, we hear from Helen Wilson, PhD candidate with the…

  • The Politics of Protest in Britain: Race Riots in 1980-81

    The Politics of Protest in Britain: Race Riots in 1980-81

    To mark Black History Month 2020, today’s post comes from guest blogger Dr Simon Peplow, senior teaching fellow at the University of Warwick. Dr Peplow is a researcher of modern British race, ethnicity, and migration history and his book ‘Race…

  • Collaborative Doctoral Award with the Open University: The Black and Mixed Ethnicity Presence in British Politics, 1750-1850

    Collaborative Doctoral Award with the Open University: The Black and Mixed Ethnicity Presence in British Politics, 1750-1850

    We are pleased to announce that the History of Parliament Trust is participating in a doctoral studentship project in partnership with the Open University. Applications are invited for an Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award, for entry in 2020-21. The deadline…

  • Collaborative Doctoral Award with the Open University: The Black and Mixed Ethnicity Presence in British Politics, 1750-1850

    Collaborative Doctoral Award with the Open University: The Black and Mixed Ethnicity Presence in British Politics, 1750-1850

    We are pleased to announce that the History of Parliament Trust is participating in a doctoral studentship project in partnership with the Open University. Applications are invited for an Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award, for entry in 2020-21. The deadline…

  • Hansard at Huddersfield: Making democracy more searchable

    Hansard at Huddersfield: Making democracy more searchable

    Today’s post is a guest blog from Lesley Jeffries of the University of Huddersfield. Lesley explains the Hansard at Huddersfield project which aims to provide some interesting search facilities and visualisations of the results from the record of the UK…