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History of Parliament
@histparl.bsky.social
Creating a comprehensive account of parliamentary politics in England, then the UK, from the thirteenth century to the present day.

You can find us at other places, here: https://linktr.ee/historyofparliament
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The History of Parliament is excited to announce this year's Annual Lecture!

On 16 December in Portcullis House, Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds will be speaking on 'Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51: A Reappraisal'.

Tickets are FREE and can be found in the link below:
Annual Lecture: Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51
Join us for the History of Parliament Annual Lecture for 2025, given by Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
#OTD 1883, the first by-election in England held under the rules of the 1883 Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act took place.

Dr Kathryn Rix explores the impact that the Act had on electioneering during the York by-election:
The impact of the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act: the York by-election - The History of Parliament
series on the 1883 Corrupt and Illegal Practice Act, Dr Kathryn Rix looks at its impact on electioneering, focusing on the November 1883 York by-election
historyofparliament.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by History of Parliament
This was a thing in the 18th century, too. See Charles Littleton's post on cricket and the Georgian aristocracy:
historyofparliament.com/2023/07/06/e...
‘Kind patron of the mirthful fray’: the English aristocracy and cricket in the 18th century - The History of Parliament
The Ashes Test series currently under way provides an opportunity to consider the English aristocracy’s role in cricket’s early development in the 18th
historyofparliament.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Born #OTD 1639, Sir Richard Knight.

Returned to Lymington in 1678 near the end of the Cavalier Parliament, after being unsuccessful the next year in running for Hampshire it was said that "what with a former indisposition and present drinking, poor man, he died the next day after."
historyofparliamentonline.org
November 21, 2025 at 1:30 PM
With this years Ashes beginning in the early hours of this morning, we thought we'd point you in the direction of @TheVictCommons where they explore the link between cricket and the Victorian House of Commons

historyofparliament.com/2025/11/20/c...
Cricket in the Commons: a Victorian First Eleven - The History of Parliament
With the 2025 Ashes between England and Australia getting underway this week, we have a cricketing themed post from our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project.
historyofparliament.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:38 AM
#OTD 1918 the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, giving women the right to stand for parliament, gained royal assent.

To find out more about early women parliamentary candidates, and the campaigns they ran, read @lisaberrywaite.bsky.social article. historyofparliament.com/2019/06/11/s...
‘She is an Outsider in Public Life’: women parliamentary candidates, 1918-1923 - The History of Parliament
Ahead of tonight’s Parliaments, Politics and People seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, we hear from Lisa Berry-Waite, a Leverhulme-funded PhD
historyofparliament.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:00 AM
#OTD in 1459 marked the opening of the Coventry Parliament.

Although this Parliament only met briefly between November and December 1459, it would have a lasting impact in the Wars of the Roses:
A turning-point in the Wars of the Roses: the attainders of the Coventry Parliament - The History of Parliament
As significant, however, as this Parliament was in the history of the Wars of the Roses, it had as least as great a longer-term significance. It saw the
historyofparliament.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:02 PM
This year's Annual Lecture will be taking place on 16 December, where Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, will be speaking on Clement Attlee's Labour Governments.

Grab your FREE ticket below before its too late: hptannuallecture2025.eventbrite.co.uk
Annual Lecture: Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51
Join us for the History of Parliament Annual Lecture for 2025, given by Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds.
HPTAnnualLecture2025.eventbrite.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by History of Parliament
If you're interested in Scottish national identity, eighteenth-century fashion, and/or women in politics, you may be interested in the paper I'm presenting at the IHR Parliaments, Politics & People seminar next Tuesday. Best of all, it's online!

#eighteenthcentury #womenshistory #Scottishhistory
On 25 November, Dr Natalie Garrett will be speaking at the next IHR Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar, where they will be presenting on Jane, duchess of Gordon and the Romanticisation of Scottish Identity in London, c.1780-1812.

Find out more and how to attend below:
‘The Tartan Rage’: Fashion, High Society, and Scottish Identity in Eighteenth-Century London - The History of Parliament
The Tartan rage has at length reached Paris,’ declared the World in June 1787. Demand for tartan fabric and accessories had swept British high society earlier that year, with the Gazetteer and New…
historyofparliament.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Died #OTD 1737, Queen Caroline of Ansbach, wife of George II

As Dr Robin Eagles explores, not only were her last few weeks agonizing, but her death reflected her wider importance to the Hanoverian regime:
historyofparliament.com/2021/12/02/c...
Death of a Queen: the tragic end of Caroline of Ansbach - The History of Parliament
In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles, considers the grisly end of Queen Caroline of Ansbach, the botched efforts of her physicians to
historyofparliament.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:45 AM
On 25 November, Dr Natalie Garrett will be speaking at the next IHR Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar, where they will be presenting on Jane, duchess of Gordon and the Romanticisation of Scottish Identity in London, c.1780-1812.

Find out more and how to attend below:
‘The Tartan Rage’: Fashion, High Society, and Scottish Identity in Eighteenth-Century London - The History of Parliament
The Tartan rage has at length reached Paris,’ declared the World in June 1787. Demand for tartan fabric and accessories had swept British high society earlier that year, with the Gazetteer and New…
historyofparliament.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Born #OTD 1650, Robert Walpole.

MP for Castle Rising between 1689 and his death in 1700, he is best known for being the father of the first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole.

You can read #HistParl's biography of him below:👇
historyofparliamentonline.org
November 18, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Reposted by History of Parliament
This is ground-breaking research by Gillian Williamson. It shows that 30 years before Ignatius Sancho at least one Black voter participated in an election, and the implication must be that there were others like John London.
#skystorians
November 17, 2025 at 1:33 PM
In November 1749, John London walked from his home to vote in the Westminster constituency parliamentary by-election.

As Dr Gillian Williamson explores, this provides the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election:
John London: Britain's First Black Voter? - The History of Parliament
this election could serve as the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election - John London
historyofparliament.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by History of Parliament
Spaces are going quickly for the #HistParl Annual Lecture 2025! Make sure to follow the link in this post to sign up and ensure you have a ticket.

We're looking forward to seeing lots of you there.
The History of Parliament is excited to announce this year's Annual Lecture!

On 16 December in Portcullis House, Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds will be speaking on 'Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51: A Reappraisal'.

Tickets are FREE and can be found in the link below:
Annual Lecture: Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51
Join us for the History of Parliament Annual Lecture for 2025, given by Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
#OTD 1558, Mary I died, with Elizabeth I succeeding her as Queen.

Check out our 'The First Elizabethan Age' article collection, which explores the peers and MPs during Elizabeth's reign, and the parallels between the 16th century and today:
historyofparliament.com/the-first-el...
- The History of Parliament
Welcome to The First Elizabethan Age blog series
historyofparliament.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Born #OTD 1811, John Bright.
A Radical MP from 1843-89, Bright was a champion of parliamentary reform and co-founder of the Anti-Corn Law League.

Dr Simon Morgan explored how Bright and other popular politicians in the age of reform became 'cultural phenomena':
From ‘People’s Champions’ to ‘Tribunes of the People’: popular politicians in Parliament, c. 1810 to 1867 - The History of Parliament
To find out more, Simon’s full-length paper ‘From ‘People’s Champions’ to ‘Tribunes of the People’: popular politicians in Parliament, c. 1810 to 1867’ is
historyofparliament.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:30 AM
#OTD 1712, the infamous, and extremely violent Hamilton-Mohun duel took place between Scottish Tory the Duke of Hamilton and the Cornish Whig Lord Mohun. Check out Dr Robin Eagles' article on the violent history of duels in 18thc England here: historyofparliament.com/2018/06/07/d...
“More the air of an assassin than of a gentleman”: Duels and attempted murder in eighteenth-century England - The History of Parliament
The recent BBC adaptation of John Preston's book - A Very English Scandal - about the trial of the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe for conspiracy and
historyofparliament.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Spaces are going quickly for the #HistParl Annual Lecture 2025! Make sure to follow the link in this post to sign up and ensure you have a ticket.

We're looking forward to seeing lots of you there.
The History of Parliament is excited to announce this year's Annual Lecture!

On 16 December in Portcullis House, Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds will be speaking on 'Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51: A Reappraisal'.

Tickets are FREE and can be found in the link below:
Annual Lecture: Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51
Join us for the History of Parliament Annual Lecture for 2025, given by Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Born #OTD 1749 Edward Winnington.

MP for Droitwich and supporter of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, he was described as "affectionate and indulgent in all his domestic relations; an ornament to his native county and to all his connexions":
historyofparliamentonline.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:30 PM
On 16 December, Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds will be speaking at this year's History of Parliament Annual Lecture!

His lecture on Clement Attlee's Labour Governments of 1945-51 is sure to be popular, so grab your FREE ticket below before it sells out:
Annual Lecture: Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51
Join us for the History of Parliament Annual Lecture for 2025, given by Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds.
HPTAnnualLecture2025.eventbrite.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 9:00 AM
#OTD 1887 a protest at Trafalgar Square against soaring unemployment and the arrest of Irish nationalist MP William O'Brien descended into violent clashes between demonstrators and police.

Later known as 'Bloody Sunday', it resulted in 400 arrests and 75 people injured. [1/3] 🧵
November 13, 2025 at 12:45 PM
In memory of Professor Peter W. Fleming who died in April this year, Dr Simon Payling has explored his 2011 work on Coventry during the Wars of the Roses 1451-1471:

historyofparliament.com/2025/11/13/c...
A Lancastrian City? Coventry and the Wars of the Roses, 1451-1471 - The History of Parliament
This piece is in memory of Professor Peter W. Fleming, who died in April 2025. His publishing career spanned 40 years, from an article on the religious faith
historyofparliament.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Born # OTD 1684, Admiral Edward Vernon.

MP for Penryn, Portsmouth, and then Ipswich, Vernon was also an excellent seaman. However, as his #HistParl biography explores, Vernon impeded rather than furthered his naval career with his incursion into politics:
historyofparliamentonline.org
November 12, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The History of Parliament is excited to announce this year's Annual Lecture!

On 16 December in Portcullis House, Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds will be speaking on 'Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51: A Reappraisal'.

Tickets are FREE and can be found in the link below:
Annual Lecture: Clement Attlee’s Labour Governments of 1945-51
Join us for the History of Parliament Annual Lecture for 2025, given by Rt Hon. Nick Thomas-Symonds.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Died #OTD 1671, Sir Thomas Fairfax

MP for Cirencester, West Riding, and Yorkshire, earlier in his career Fairfax was the Captain General of the New Model Army that led the Parliamentary forces to victory at the Battle of Naseby in 1645:

historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-...
November 12, 2025 at 9:01 AM