2015 has been a very busy year here at the History of Parliament Trust! Of course much of this has been due to the important political anniversaries we’ve been marking this year. These began in January, when Parliament launched their year of celebrations with the ‘Beginnings of that Freedome’ exhibition in Westminster Hall on the anniversary of Simon de Montfort’s 1265 Parliament. We were delighted … Continue reading Review of the year 2015
On 14th December 1918, Countess Constance Markievicz (1868-1927) became the first woman to be elected to the UK Parliament, but she did not take her seat. Dr Mari Takayanagi, Senior Archivist at the Parliamentary Archives and joint Project Manager for Vote 100 discusses how this came about and whether she would in fact have been eligible to be an MP. In 1918, the Representation of … Continue reading The Eligibility of Constance Markievicz
Joining the History of Parliament on work experience during the summer, A level student Georgina Hands came across the Trust whilst using our website for a school history project. Here she blogs for us about her research into parliamentary abolitionists other than William Wilberforce… Britain’s slave trade is a part of history which is often overlooked. Despite the practice of the trade occurring until the … Continue reading Was Wilberforce the only influential parliamentarian abolitionist? Certainly not…
Every year the History of Parliament Trust holds a competition for the best undergraduate dissertation on British or Irish politics. 2014’s winner was Stuart Clark of Edinburgh University, with ‘“An Old Tory Dodge”, or “a Large and Liberal Project of Practical Benevolence”? The Congested Districts Board, Politics and the Press in Ireland, 1890-1914’. Our editors and editorial board judged the work to be interesting, well-written … Continue reading History of Parliament’s Dissertation Competition, 2014 and 2015
2014 was the tenth year of the History of Parliament’s schools competition. As I’m sure you know, every year we run two competitions, one for A level students and one for Key Stage Three (KS3) students (11-14 year olds) – details of how to enter this year’s competition also in this post! Our 2014 winners were Matthew Pearson (Salesian College, Hampshire) at KS3 and Alan … Continue reading The History of Parliament Schools competition: 2014 winners’ prize days and 2015 competition
Today, we are delighted to launch our new, interactive website for our HLF-funded project From the Grassroots: An Oral History of Community Politics in Devon. The project is creating a sound archive of people involved in local politics within the county from 1945 until the present day. The website will showcase our interviews and research, as well as being an excellent way to keep you … Continue reading New website launched for ‘From the Grassroots’
Recently we held the prize day for our 2013 schools competition. Our three winners, Ami Ganatra, Jessica Welchman (Key Stage Three) and James Heale (A level), along with their teachers and families came to Westminster for a special tour of the Palace and to receive their prizes from the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP. You can read more about our winners … Continue reading History of Parliament schools competitions 2014: your turn this year?
The History of Parliament has been running schools competitions for several years, and 2013 was an excellent year for both our 11-14 year olds’ and A level competitions. A great big thank you to everyone who entered this year. The judges – who included ourselves, our trustees, and members of Parliament’s Education Service – had a very enjoyable time reading your entries, if a rather … Continue reading History of Parliament’s Schools competition winners, 2013
As 2013 draws to an end, we’re looking back at another busy year at the History of Parliament, ready for another exciting year in 2014! Our five research sections have been busy as normal – not just researching but revising articles in preparation for publication dates. Luckily, some of them have found the time to share what they’re doing with you all on this blog. … Continue reading Review of the year 2013
For a number of years now, here at the History of Parliament, we’ve been running competitions for school pupils at Key Stage 3 and A level. This year we’ve had plenty of fantastic entries for our 11-14 year old competition (which has made the judging rather tricky!). Our 16-18 year old essay competition is still open – extended this year over the summer break – … Continue reading New set of History of Parliament resources for schools at KS3: The Reformation
The History of Parliament 