‘Buff and Blue’: dance and factional politics in London’s West End, 1780-89

Ahead of next Tuesday’s Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Hillary Burlock of Newcastle University. On 29 November, between 5.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m., Hillary will discuss the connections between dance and factional politics in London’s West End, 1780-89. The seminar takes place on 29 November 2022, between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. You can attend online via Zoom. Details of how to join the discussion are … Continue reading ‘Buff and Blue’: dance and factional politics in London’s West End, 1780-89

Conference Report: Bath 250

On 29 and 30 September the opening of Bath’s historic (Upper) Assembly Rooms was marked with a conference over Zoom, followed by a live event in the Assembly Rooms where conference participants were able to experience a display of dances from the Ridotto, which had opened the Rooms precisely 250 years before in 1771. We welcome back one of the speakers, Jemima Hubberstey, a doctoral … Continue reading Conference Report: Bath 250

A Farewell to Arms, Kilts and Sporrans: banning Scottish Highland dress in the aftermath of Culloden

Continuing with November’s local history look at the Scottish presence in Parliament, today Dr Robin Eagles, editor of our Lords 1715-1790 section, casts his eye over attempts to regulate traditional Scottish dress in the eighteenth century. In the winter of 1745, the people of the north and midlands of England were gripped with panic. The rebel Jacobite army led by Charles Edward Stuart had left Scotland earlier in the … Continue reading A Farewell to Arms, Kilts and Sporrans: banning Scottish Highland dress in the aftermath of Culloden

Dancing into the Houses of Parliament: the role of balls in Georgian electoral campaigns

The latest blog from the Georgian Lords investigates the importance of dance in the eighteenth-century political process. Our guest author, Hillary Burlock, is a PhD student at Queen Mary, University of London, researching the politics of dance in eighteenth-century politics, and currently holds a BSECS/Georgian Papers Programme research fellowship. Eighteenth-century elections, rife with ritual and corruption, were not only responsible for electing MPs, but for … Continue reading Dancing into the Houses of Parliament: the role of balls in Georgian electoral campaigns

Wigs on roundheads: puritans, peruques and powder under Oliver Cromwell

In our latest blog, Dr Patrick Little of the House of Commons 1640-1660 section challenges one of the lingering stereotypes associated with the era of puritan rule… The fashion for wearing periwigs is commonly thought to have been brought into England by Charles II and his court after their return from the continent in 1660, but there is plenty of evidence to show that the … Continue reading Wigs on roundheads: puritans, peruques and powder under Oliver Cromwell