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John Potter, an unusual Archbishop of Canterbury
In the latest blog for the Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles examines the career of one of the lesser known…
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‘A kindhearted savage of a man’: Arthur Wills Blundell Sandys Trumbull Windsor Hill, Earl of Hillsborough (1812-68)
Today (6 August) marks the anniversary of both the birth and death of the Irish MP Arthur Wills Blundell Sandys…
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From Lancaster to York and back again: the political evolution of the Derbyshire Blounts
Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the fortunes and shifting loyalties of one gentry family in Derbyshire during…
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Josiah Wedgwood (1769-1843): from pottery to politics
Today (3rd August) marks the anniversary of the birth of Josiah Wedgwood MP in 1769. Wedgwood has a special significance…
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The Duke of Cambridge and the Hanoverian Succession, 1706-14
Early modern monarchs often were jealous of their heirs. In the early 18th century this was especially the case when…
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Defying the Whip: ‘rebel’ MP Swynfen Jervis (1797-1867)
On the anniversary of Swynfen Jervis’s return for Bridport in 1837, Dr Philip Salmon of the Victorian Commons explores the…
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‘One of the wyrste bataylys that ever came to Inglonde, and unkyndyst’: The battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403
Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the background and significance of the battle of Shrewsbury, which took place…
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The 1872 Secret Ballot and Multiple Member Seats
In this post about the introduction of the ballot in UK elections, based on a seminar talk (click here to…
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‘Damn the secret ballot’: the UK’s public voting system before 1872
Today (18 July) marks another anniversary of the 1872 Secret Ballot Act, a topic we examined in more detail in…
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In Memoriam: Sir John Sainty
The History of Parliament has been deeply saddened to hear of the death of Sir John Sainty, a great friend…
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‘Good for nothing and lived like a hog’: the destructive obsession of Francis, Lord Deincourt
Dr Patrick Little of the 1640-60 Lords section, explores the strange life of a peer who valued money above everything.…
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A ‘new Canterbury Tale’: George Smythe, Frederick Romilly and England’s ‘last political duel’
Drawing on her research into Canterbury for the House of Commons, 1832-1868 project, our research fellow Dr Naomi Lloyd-Jones looks…
