Author Archives: Kathryn Rix

Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons!

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Kathryn Rix

In what is now a well established tradition, we’re marking the new year with a look back over the past twelve months of blogging on our Victorian Commons site, where we share research about our ongoing work on the 1832-68 … Continue reading →

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“An upholder of the old liberal opinions”: the political career of Charles Owen O’Conor, the O’Conor Don (1838-1906)

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

This guest blog comes from Dr. Aidan Enright, of Leeds Beckett University, who has recently published a book on the O’Conor Don’s political career, and who has also written the biographical article on the O’Conor Don for our 1832-68 House … Continue reading →

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Organise! Organise! Organise! Collective Action, Associational Culture and the Politics of Organisation in the British Isles, c.1790-1914

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

Durham University in collaboration with the History of Parliament, and supported by the Leverhulme Trust, are hosting a conference in Durham, Thursday-Friday 20-21 July 2023. The Call for Papers will close on 31 January 2023. The conference forms part of … Continue reading →

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‘A place of business’: the temporary chamber of the House of Commons, 1835-1851

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

In the next of our series on parliamentary buildings, this blog looks at the temporary accommodation used by the House of Commons from 1835 until 1851, after its previous chamber was destroyed by fire in October 1834. The devastating fire … Continue reading →

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Voting reform 150 years on from the 1872 Ballot Act: A symposium at the IHR in honour of Valerie Cromwell

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

This event taking place at the Institute of Historical Research on Tuesday 13th September may be of interest to some readers of our Victorian Commons blog. Three of our 1832-68 team, Dr Philip Salmon, Dr Kathryn Rix and Dr Martin … Continue reading →

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Online event marking the 150th anniversary of the Ballot Act

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

Join the History of Parliament Trust and the Parliamentary Archives on 18 July 2022 in an online event marking the passing of the 1872 Ballot Act, 150 years ago. UPDATE: This event was recorded and can now be viewed here. … Continue reading →

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Queen Victoria and parliamentary ceremony

Posted on June 2, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

As Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee is celebrated this weekend, we look at the relationship which another long-serving queen, Victoria, had with Parliament, sharing a post which first appeared on the History of Parliament’s blog. On 17 July 1837, less … Continue reading →

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Accessing Hansard online: a research guide

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

This post aims to expand on the information provided on our Resources page about accessing parliamentary debates online using Hansard. In 1812 the printer and publisher Thomas Curson Hansard (1776-1833) took over the publication of parliamentary debates from the radical … Continue reading →

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‘So much dignity and efficiency’: John Evelyn Denison, Speaker of the House of Commons, 1857-72

Posted on January 21, 2022 by Kathryn Rix

On 8 April 1857 John Evelyn Denison was in the library at his Nottinghamshire residence, Ossington Hall, when he received a letter from the prime minister. My dear Denison, We wish to be allowed to propose you for the Speakership … Continue reading →

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‘I shall persist’: Joseph Brotherton (1783-1857) and late hours in the Commons

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

In 1832 the borough of Salford elected its first MP, who would represent the constituency for the next quarter-century. Described in 1838 as an ‘ultra Liberal’, Joseph Brotherton was in many ways typical of the industrialists who made up a … Continue reading →

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The power of the (silk) purse: electioneering in nineteenth-century Macclesfield

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

This blog originally appeared on the main History of Parliament blog as part of its Local History series. One of the most significant aspects of the 1832 Reform Act was its redrawing of the electoral map, taking seats away from … Continue reading →

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Half a century at the table: John Henry Ley and the staff of the House of Commons

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

Inspired by the #OnePlaceServants blogging prompt from the Society for One Place Studies, we turn our focus away from MPs to looking at the staff who kept the Palace of Westminster running, from the clerks to the caterers… In Sir … Continue reading →

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Four prorogations and a conflagration: Parliament and its buildings in 1834

Posted on June 22, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

Continuing our series on the different buildings occupied by the House of Commons between 1832 and 1868, this blog looks at the makeshift arrangements made for the prorogation in the aftermath of the devastating Westminster fire of October 1834. The … Continue reading →

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The shipping and the railway interests: Whitby’s electoral politics, 1832-1868

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

This post first appeared on the History of Parliament’s blog as part of its local history series on port constituencies. In July 1832 the ‘blues’ (Liberals) and ‘pinks’ (Conservatives) in the port of Whitby each held lavish celebrations to mark … Continue reading →

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MPs and religious affiliation, 1832-68: a research guide

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

One of the aims of our Victorian Commons blog is to act as a guide to resources for research on 19th century British history. Although our focus is on Parliament and electoral politics, the material which we have listed on … Continue reading →

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From typhus to trains: the tragic deaths of 19th century MPs

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

The biographical format we follow when writing about the 2,591 MPs covered by our 1832-68 project means that we usually have one obvious finishing point: the MP’s death. As we have noted before in our blog on political longevity, many … Continue reading →

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‘Like herrings in a barrel’: the chamber of the House of Commons prior to 1834

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

In this new series of blogs on the Palace of Westminster, we look at the three different debating chambers occupied by the MPs who sat in Parliament between 1832 and 1868, beginning with the Commons chamber in use until the … Continue reading →

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Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons!

Posted on January 1, 2021 by Kathryn Rix

We’re marking the start of 2021 with some highlights from our blogging over the past twelve months. During the year we have joined our colleagues across the History of Parliament’s different projects for a series of blogs focusing on local … Continue reading →

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‘Highly respected in Parliamentary circles’: Thomas Greene (1794-1872)

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

Our MP of the Month Thomas Greene (1794-1872) represented his Lancaster constituency for more than three decades. As a well-respected back bench MP, he made an important contribution to parliamentary business behind the scenes, and served as chairman of ways … Continue reading →

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Representing Glamorgan, 1832-85: Mr. Talbot and his colleagues

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

This post originally appeared on the History of Parliament’s blog as part of a Local History series on Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. The earlier posts in the series looked at elections in the 1640s and the 18th century. In the 19th … Continue reading →

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From duelling to sharing the representation: Northumberland’s electoral politics in the nineteenth century

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

This post first appeared on the History of Parliament blog as part of a local history series on Northumberland’s politics. You can read the other posts in the series here and here. In 1826 Northumberland experienced its first contested election … Continue reading →

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York: exploring the local history of a Victorian constituency

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

This blog, which explains some of the key features of our constituency articles, and how they might be of use to those interested in the history of a particular locality, originally appeared on the main History of Parliament’s blog. To … Continue reading →

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‘The House divided’: the creation of a second division lobby for the Commons in 1836

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

With the creation of a second division lobby in 1836 having been mentioned during yesterday’s Commons debate on Restoration and Renewal, it seemed a good opportunity to share this post from our assistant editor Dr Kathryn Rix which originally appeared … Continue reading →

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From Rochdale to Westminster: Emily Kelsall and the new Houses of Parliament

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

This post from our assistant editor Dr Kathryn Rix was first published on the Parliamentary Archives: Inside the Act Room blog, which has many more articles to read on parliamentary history, from the medieval to the modern. One of the … Continue reading →

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‘Unpopular only with people who made no allowance for eccentricity’: Henry Bulwer (1801-72), the diplomat MP

Posted on May 20, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

Our MP of the Month is Sir Henry Bulwer, best known as a controversial and colourful career diplomat. In this guest post, Dr Laurence Guymer, who has published extensively on Bulwer’s diplomatic career, explores how this intersected with his time … Continue reading →

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Collaborative Doctoral Award with the Open University: The Black and Mixed Ethnicity Presence in British Politics, 1750-1850

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

We are pleased to announce that the History of Parliament Trust is participating in a doctoral studentship project in partnership with the Open University. Applications are invited for an Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award, for entry in 2020-21. The deadline … Continue reading →

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The MP who founded a town: Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood (1801-66)

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

Over the past few years, we have highlighted several MPs who, quite apart from their involvement in parliamentary debates and legislation, had a significant personal role in the development of the infrastructure of Victorian Britain. Previous MPs of the Month … Continue reading →

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From celebrity to outcast: William Bankes MP (1786-1855)

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Kathryn Rix

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
Today’s blog is the second of three posts to celebrate LGBT+ History Month. In this blog we hear from Dr Philip Salmon, Editor of the House of Commons 1832-1868 project, about William Bankes…

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Beware the turnip! Unusual causes of death among Victorian MPs

Posted on December 19, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

Our MP of the Month, Sir William Payne Gallwey, died on this day in 1881 after suffering a rather unusual accident… On 19 December 1881 the former Conservative MP for Thirsk, Sir William Payne Gallwey, died following an accident while … Continue reading →

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Elections and electioneering, 1832-1868

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

As voters across the country head to the polls this month, we thought it was an ideal opportunity to look back at some of the research on 19th century elections we have featured in our blogs over the past few … Continue reading →

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Parliament versus the People: the Newport rising of 1839

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
Today marks the 180th anniversary of the Newport rising when government forces and Welsh Chartists clashed in the town of Newport. Here’s Dr Philip Salmon, editor of our House of Commons 1832-68 project,…

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A female politician? Lady Derby and mid-Victorian political life

Posted on September 27, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
Continuing our series on Women and Parliament, Dr. Jennifer Davey of the University of East Anglia looks at the influence of Mary, Countess of Derby (1824-1900) within the worlds of high politics and…

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Collaborative Doctoral Award with the Open University: The Black and Mixed Ethnicity Presence in British Politics, 1750-1850

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

We are pleased to announce that the History of Parliament Trust is participating in a doctoral studentship project in partnership with the Open University. Applications are invited for an Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award, for entry in 2020-21. The deadline … Continue reading →

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MP of the Month: George Augustus Constantine Phipps, Earl of Mulgrave (1819-1890), MP and colonial governor

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of our MP of the Month, George Augustus Constantine Phipps, who, after a short stint in the army, served in the Commons as Liberal MP for Scarborough, 1847-51 and 1852-57, under his … Continue reading →

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MP of the Month: John Fenton (1791-1863)

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

In 1832 John Fenton, a Nonconformist Whig from a local banking and textile manufacturing family, was elected as the first MP for his native Rochdale, which had been given a parliamentary seat by the 1832 Reform Act. He lost to … Continue reading →

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Ethnic minorities in Parliament: a new addition to the Victorian Commons

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

In our research on the membership of the House of Commons between 1832 and 1868, we previously identified two non-white MPs: John Stewart, MP for Lymington, 1832-47, the illegitimate son of a West Indian plantation owner, who was probably of … Continue reading →

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The Speaker and the same question: a view from the Victorian Commons

Posted on March 22, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
In today’s blog Dr Philip Salmon, editor of the 1832-1945 House of Commons project, explores some of the historical background behind recent Parliamentary rulings relating to Brexit. The rules governing UK parliamentary procedure,…

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Corruption at elections in Britain in the 19th century

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

Following on from Martin Spychal’s blog about the paper he gave at last month’s ‘From “Old Corruption” to the New Corruption?’ conference, organised jointly by Oxford Brookes and Newman Universities, we hear from our assistant editor Kathryn Rix. She gave … Continue reading →

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Victorian Election Violence Project

Posted on February 6, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

We’re delighted to host a guest blog from Dr. Gary Hutchison, Research Associate on the Victorian Election Violence Project at Durham University. Here he outlines the project’s methods and shares some of its preliminary findings. Electoral violence plagues many current … Continue reading →

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Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons for 2019

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Kathryn Rix

The Victorian Commons wishes all its readers a very Happy New Year. We’re looking forward to another year of blogging, but in the meantime, here’s a look back over our posts from 2018. For the first time ever, we had … Continue reading →

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MP of the Month: George Williams (1765-1850) and Ashton-under-Lyne

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

In December 1832 the voters of Ashton-under-Lyne elected George Williams, ‘a Radical Reformer’, as the first MP for their newly enfranchised constituency. Born in Newfoundland, Williams had joined the British army in North America in 1777, aged just 12. After … Continue reading →

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An Artist in the Attic: Women and the House of Commons in the Early-Nineteenth Century

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

In this guest post, Amy Galvin-Elliott from the University of Warwick looks at how women were able to witness debates in the House of Commons from the ‘ventilator’, a space used until the fire of October 1834 destroyed the old … Continue reading →

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MP of the Month: Josiah Wedgwood (1769-1843)

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Our MP of the Month has a special significance for the History of Parliament Trust, being the great-grandfather (and namesake) of our founder, Josiah Wedgwood MP. This year the History of Parliament is marking the 75th anniversary of the death … Continue reading →

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Tackling electoral corruption: how Victorian Britain reformed the trial of election petitions in 1868

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the passing of the Election Petitions and Corrupt Practices at Elections Act, an important part of the electoral reforms which had begun with the Second Reform Act of…

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Voice and Vote: behind the scenes

Posted on July 11, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
This blog looks at how the History of Parliament has been involved behind the scenes with the Voice and Vote exhibition which opened in Westminster Hall last week. Dr. Philip Salmon and Dr.…

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Club Government: How the Early Victorian World was Ruled from London Clubs

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Earlier this year we were delighted to attend the launch of Seth Thévoz’s first book, Club Government: How the Early Victorian World was Ruled from London Clubs, published by I. B. Tauris. This book is based on research undertaken for … Continue reading →

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The 1868 Boundary Act: Disraeli’s attempt to control his ‘leap in the dark’?

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the 1868 Boundary Act. As Martin Spychal of the Commons 1832-68 Section discusses in today’s blog, the oft-neglected story of the Act provides several key insights…

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MP of the Month: Lord Hotham (1794-1870)

Posted on May 30, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Our MP of the Month, Lord Hotham, is one of a small number of individuals who sat for the entire period covered by our 1832-68 project. A Waterloo veteran, he had first been elected to the Commons in 1820 as … Continue reading →

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Call for papers: ‘From “Old Corruption” to the New Corruption? Public Life and Public Service in Britain, c. 1780–1940’

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

Our assistant editor, Kathryn Rix, will be one of the keynote speakers at a 2 day conference entitled ‘From “Old Corruption” to the New Corruption? Public Life and Public Service in Britain, c. 1780–1940’, to be held at Oxford Brookes … Continue reading →

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Before the vote was won: women and politics, 1832-68

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Kathryn Rix

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which received royal assent on 6 February. For the first time, virtually all the adult male population received the parliamentary franchise, whereas before this reform, around … Continue reading →

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