Author Archives: Kathryn Rix

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

Posted on May 28, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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