UK Parliamentary history in the Institute of Historical Research Library

Highlights of recent acquisitions
The Times guides to the House of Commons 1910, 1911, 1919
The Times guides to the House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935
The House of Commons, 1604-1629
A short history of parliament : England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Scotland

Parliaments, Politics and People seminar is held on Tuesday evenings during term time.

The IHR library's collections focus on published primary sources, and the main coverage here is the official records of Parliament, and edited versions. We also hold a substantial collection of guides, bibliographies, periodicals and reference works, including biographical material.

The material is located within the following classmarks in the library. A double letter BB indicates a folio-sized item which are shelved in a separate sequence:

  • B.0 British Bibliographies (especially B.044)
  • B.2 Collective Biography (especially B.232 Parliamentary biography)
  • B.4 British Parliamentary History, including B.401 (Records), B.402 (Secondary works), B.43 Elections and Electoral Reform and B.47 Parliamentary Rights and Procedures
  • B.71 Parliamentary records
  • B.9 Periodicals
  • B.999 Parliamentary Debates

Some of our material is in closed-access, and can be ordered in advance- see further details.

Sources

Secondary works

Sources

AnchorMedieval Parliament Rolls

Description: Records of the English parliament, from the manuscript rolls which survive for the period 1275 to 1504
IHR holdings:

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Journals of the House of Lords/Commons

Description: Formal record of proceedings in both Houses of Parliament, printed from manuscript originals.
IHR holdings:

Notes: Senate House Library hold later period; some early volumes are available on British History online: Commons and Lords

 

AnchorParliamentary Debates (including Hansard)

Description: Transcript/record of the parliamentary debates
IHR holdings:

pre 1812various unofficial editions of debates and proceedings (e.g. Grey’s Debates) and parliamentary diariesB.7
medieval-1812Cobbett’s Parliamentary DebatesB.999/Cob
1812-1908Parliamentary Debates (Lords and Commons)B.999/Han
1909-1978Parliamentary Debates (Commons)B.999/Han/C (closed access from 1960)
1909-1980Parliamentary Debates (Lords)B.999/Han/L (closed access from 1960)
1803-2005House of Commons Parliamentary Papersonline subscription resource
1803-2005 (incomplete)http://hansard.millbanksystems.comfree online (in development)
1988-UK Parliament website - Commonsfree online
1995-UK Parliament website - Lordsfree online

Editions of Debates and Proceedings relating to specific subjects will also be found in relevant collection (e.g. Proceedings and debates of the British Parliaments respecting North America, 1754-1783)

 

 

 

 

 

AnchorVotes and Proceedings

Description: Official summary of the proceedings - issued as broadsheets for public circulation
IHR holdings:

  • Votes of the House of Commons B.4015/Vot 1681-1798 (incomplete)

AnchorPublic Petitions

Description: Formal written request to Parliament from an individual or group of individuals
IHR holdings:

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Divisions Lists

Description: Voting records
IHR holdings:

 

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Parliamentary Papers

Description: Sessional Papers (Bills, House papers and Command papers), for further detail see House of Commons Parliamentary Papers guide.

IHR holdings: IHR no longer holds individual printed parliamentary papers – the incomplete collection we once had was amalgamated with the Senate House library collection. We have Chadwyck Healey/Proquest House of Commons Parliamentary Papers online (available onsite or by subscription), printed editions of C18th sessional papers and various subject catalogues/indexes:

AnchorStatutes and Acts

Description: Public acts, and some indexes to Local and Private Acts. Acts from 1642-1660 were considered void after the Restoration, and are therefore excluded from the main published editions. They have been compiled into Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum.
IHR holdings:

We have various published editions at classmarks B/BB.4018 dating from C12th – 1926.

Tracing legislation through parliament: Equal votes for men and women

On 20th May 1867, John Stuart Mill proposed an amendment to the Reform Act to "leave out the word "man" in order to insert the word "person" ". During the Debate, the Conservative MP for Colchester, Edward Kent Karslake, opposed the amendment as "not a lady in Essex had asked him to support the proposition in favour of a female franchise, and believing that the women in other parts of England were equally indifferent on the subject, he came to the conclusion that the women of this country would prefer to remain as they were, being content with the happy homes and advantages they now possessed" (Hansard's Parliamentary Debates (3rd series), 20 May 1867 vol 187 c833). The proposal was defeated by 196 votes to 73.
Debate | Division | Journals of the House of Commons

In response to this, a petition was organised in his consituency, and presented to Parliament by Karlsake on 25th July:
Petition and the text of the related petition in the Appendix.

The Act giving women the same voting rights as men wasn't passed for another 60 years.

Parliamentary Franchise (Women) Bill 1910 (access onsite, by subscription only)

Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 18 & 19 Geo. 5 c. 12

Secondary works

AnchorGuides and bibliographies

AnchorPeriodicals and Reference works

AnchorWebsites/online resources

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