Peter Hasler, General Editor and Secretary to the Editorial Board of the History of Parliament between 1978 and 1991, died on 30 April. The following account of Peter’s life and career owes much to his widow, Christine Restall, and his sister, Joan Hasler, who herself worked for the History briefly during the 1950s. Peter was associated with the History of Parliament for 33 years. He … Continue reading A tribute to Peter William Hasler, 1926-2017
Today, the new Parliament will be officially opened. In his guest blog Steven Franklin (Royal Holloway, University of London) discusses the origins and development of the pageantry involved… In 1863 Queen Victoria refused to open parliament, citing her ‘total inability…to perform these functions of her high position which are accompanied by state ceremonials, and which necessitate the appearance in full dress in public’. Fortunately, the … Continue reading The State Opening of Parliament: When dissident acts become established acts
350 years ago this week the British navy suffered a disaster after the Dutch Raid on the Medway. In this blog our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, discusses the parliamentary background to one of the worst defeats in British naval history… On 12 June 1667, the leading ships of a Dutch fleet forced their way through the chain barring access to the Medway at Gillingham, and … Continue reading Chatham and the failure of English Politics
At our last ‘Parliaments, Politics & People’ seminar, Dr. Kathryn Rix, assistant editor of our Victorian Commons project, spoke on ‘The professionalisation of electoral politics: the Liberal and Conservative party agents, 1880-1910’. The professional party agents are the subject of her recent book, Parties, agents and electoral culture in England, 1880-1910, recently published by Boydell and Brewer in the Royal Historical Society’s Studies in History … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar: Kathryn Rix, The professionalisation of electoral politics: the Liberal and Conservative party agents, 1880-1910
In the latest of our blogs on MPs killed in the First World War, Dr Kathryn Rix marks the centenary of the death of the Irish nationalist Willie Redmond… On 7 June 1917, William Hoey Kearney Redmond, the Irish Nationalist MP for East Clare, died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Messines in Belgium. Aged 56, he was the oldest MP to be killed … Continue reading MPs in World War I: William Hoey Kearney Redmond (1861-1917)
The latest in our General Election 2017 series and launching our new blog series on The Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles, Senior Research Fellow of the Lords 1715-90 Section, describes the Pelham ministry’s snap decision to call an election and catch the opposition off-balance… On 17 June 1747 George II attended the House of Lords to grant his assent to some 59 new pieces of … Continue reading ‘Of the utmost weight for the safety and tranquillity of the kingdom’: the snap election of 1747
With UK electors heading off to the national polls for the third time in as many years and as part of our Election 2017 series, Dr Philip Salmon, editor of the Victorian Commons, looks for similar levels of electioneering activity in earlier periods… By June the UK will have clocked up its fifth general election this century – an average of one every 3.4 years. … Continue reading ‘Not another one!’: going to the polls in historical perspective
The History of Parliament 