Historians J.B. Owen, J.H. Plumb, and Linda Colley have all alluded to the post-1714 drift of the Tories into the Whig party. One of the families particularly referenced was the Legges. In the latest blog for the Georgian Lords, Dr Stuart Handley demonstrates the family advantages of conforming to the prevailing political climate. In August 1714, the head of the Legge family was William, earl … Continue reading Tory to Whig – or helping out the Family?
Robert Harley (1661-1724) was in his late 20s when he was first elected to Parliament as MP for Tregony in April 1689. He would remain a member of Parliament, first of the Commons and then of the Lords, for the rest of his life. Both his power and personal style was reflected in a number of nicknames: ‘Robin the Trickster’, ‘Harlequin’ and ‘the Dragon’ being … Continue reading Enter the Dragon: the education of Robert Harley
10 May 2023 marked the 300th anniversary of the death of William Cowper, Earl Cowper, a rarity among political lawyers in that he served two terms as lord chancellor. Currently, the History of Parliament has two published accounts of his career, one covering the period when he was a member of the House of Commons, and one covering the House of Lords under Queen Anne. … Continue reading “Get a haircut”Celebrating the career of Lord Chancellor Cowper
One thought he was descended from Adam, another that he was a Hapsburg prince. In this latest blog, Dr Robin Eagles, editor of the Lords 1660-1832 project, examines some of the more dramatic claims made by members of the House of Lords… Members of the House of Lords prided themselves on the antiquity of their families. While most peerage titles by the time of the … Continue reading Who do they think they are?
The death of Queen Anne on 1 August 1714 heralded the arrival of a new dynasty in Britain – literally – the kingdom had to await the arrival of the new king from Hanover on 18 September. Continuing our Coronation blog series, Dr Stuart Handley examines the preparations for and proceedings of George I’s coronation in 1714. Following the death of the queen, according to … Continue reading The Peerage and the Coronation of George I
The House of Commons Committee of Privileges has its origins in 1995 when, in the light of scandals such as ‘cash for questions’, a Committee of Standards and Privileges was established to monitor and regulate the conduct of MPs. In 2012 it was divided into separate committees, one for Standards and the other for Privileges, and the latter has been in the news recently over … Continue reading Parliament’s Committees of Privileges
As 2022 draws to an end Dr Charles Littleton considers the tercentenary of the Atterbury Plot, the failed plan for a Jacobite insurrection in England in 1722. The investigation of the conspiracy by Parliament in 1722-23 had far-reaching effects, as it consolidated the incoming premiership of Robert Walpole and contributed to the weakening of English Jacobitism. As its name suggests, the direction of the ‘Plot’ … Continue reading Of Pretenders and Prime Ministers: Robert Walpole and the Atterbury Plot 300 years on
The human side of working in Parliament can often be forgotten, but in today’s blog Dr Robin Eagles, editor of our House of Lords 1715-1790 project, explores where parliamentarians went when in need of ‘relief’ in the old palace of Westminster… It is easy to forget when studying Parliament, but members of both Houses and other visitors to the old palace of Westminster spent long … Continue reading Spending a penny in the old palace of Westminster
Violence was not uncommon among the early modern aristocracy, but the behaviour of the Mohun (pronounced ‘Moon’) family – Barons Mohun of Okehampton – was shocking even to contemporaries. In the next blog for our Revolutionary Stuart Parliaments series, Dr Patrick Little from our Lords 1640-1660 project explores the family weakness for mindless violence… John Mohun, 1st Baron Mohun, was proud of his ancestry, boasting … Continue reading The Madness of the Mohuns
In the latest blog for the Georgian Lords, Dr Robin Eagles considers the tragic history of the family of the dukes of Bolton and the strange coincidence that brought about the deaths of two peers in the same house in London… Trigger Warning: This post deals with themes of suicide. Writing in July 1765, Horace Walpole was at pains to insist that there could not … Continue reading “contagion lies in a wainscot”: the tragic history of the dukes of Bolton & 37, Grosvenor Square
The History of Parliament 