Category Archives: social history

“The Greatest Appearance of Company ever seen”: Parliament, politics and horse-racing in the early 18th century

Posted on August 2, 2018 by

With Parliament in recess and ‘Glorious Goodwood’ in full swing, Dr Robin Eagles, Editor of the House of Lords 1715-90 section, considers the importance of racing in Georgian society as an opportunity for political display… In the late summer of … Continue reading →

Posted in 18th Century history, Georgian Lords, Politics, social history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘The last remedy God has left him’: medicine in the 18th century

Posted on July 12, 2018 by

Today’s blog from Dr Robin Eagles, Editor of the Lords 1715-1790 Section is in keeping with our theme, health, medicine and Parliament. This theme is particularly significant this month as last week in the UK we celebrated 70 years of … Continue reading →

Posted in 18th Century history, Early modern history, Health and Medicine, social history | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Dudley North, 3rd Lord North and the discovery of the waters of Tunbridge Wells

Posted on May 23, 2018 by

As part of our focus on health and medicine, Dr Ben Coates of the Lords 1604-29 Section considers the origins of the famous spa at Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and ponders whether the parliamentary context might shed light on the date … Continue reading →

Posted in 17th Century history, Early modern history, Health and Medicine, James I to Restoration, social history | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Event review: Parliament and Popular Sovereignty in the nineteenth century, 22 March 2018.

Posted on April 12, 2018 by

Today’s blog is a summary of our afternoon event about Parliament and Popular Sovereignty in the nineteenth century, which was held before Easter at the Palace of Westminster … On  22 March 2018 the History of Parliament hosted an event … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th Century history, Events, social history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why political history still matters

Posted on March 22, 2018 by

Dr Katrina Navickas from the University of Hertfordshire was the keynote speaker at the History of Parliament Trust and Durham University’s Parliaments and Popular Sovereignty conference, which was held at the People’s History Museum in Manchester in November 2017. She … Continue reading →

Posted in 18th Century history, 19th Century history, social history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Public Petitioning and Parliament, 1689-1760

Posted on March 20, 2018 by

Today’s blog from Philip Loft, currently a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge, is part of our week of social media activity about all things petitioning, protest and franchise reform. This is ahead of our public event on the … Continue reading →

Posted in 17th Century history, 18th Century history, Conferences/seminars, Early modern history, social history | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A medieval MP’s Valentine’s Day Letters

Posted on February 14, 2018 by

Dr Hannes Kleineke of the 1422-1504 Commons explains how the commercial holiday we now recognise as St Valentine’s Day was observed by a young lover in the fifteenth century… It is a little known fact that the earliest known Valentine’s … Continue reading →

Posted in History, medieval history, social history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment