Links
Copyright
The text on this site belongs to the History of Parliament and should not be reproduced without permission.-
Recent Posts
- ‘A strenuous and able Reformer’: Dr Stephen Lushington (1782-1873)
- MP of the Month: Thomas Barrett Lennard (1788-1856)
- From duelling to sharing the representation: Northumberland’s electoral politics in the nineteenth century
- York: exploring the local history of a Victorian constituency
- ‘The House divided’: the creation of a second division lobby for the Commons in 1836
Victorian Commons on Twitter
- Baptised #onthisday 1786 John Steel, Liberal MP for his native Cockermouth from 1854 until his death in April 1868.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 17 hours ago
- Born #onthisday 1819 Edward William Watkin, Liberal MP for Great Yarmouth 1857, Stockport 1864-8 (& later MP for Hy… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 day ago
Categories
- 1832-68 preview site
- Biographies
- Chartism
- Conferences and seminars
- Constituencies
- Corruption
- Elections
- Empire
- Forthcoming events
- Guest blog
- Images of MPs
- Ireland
- Legislation
- Leisure
- LGBT+ History Month
- Local government
- Materiality
- MP of the Month
- Parliamentary buildings
- Parliamentary life
- party labels
- Prime Ministers
- Publications
- Queer Parliamentary Life
- religion
- Resources
- Scotland
- Uncategorized
- Voting and Divisions
- Wales
- women
- Working-class politics
Researching the House of Commons
- 1819 Bank Act
- 1832 Reform Act
- 1832-68 preview site
- 1867 Reform Act
- Anti-Corn Law League
- army
- Benjamin Disraeli
- Biographies
- Birmingham Political Union
- boundary changes
- boundary commission
- buildings; temporary House of Commons; Westminster; Westminster fire
- By-elections
- capital punishment
- Charles Dickens
- Christmas
- colonies
- conservatism
- Conservative
- Conservative party
- Constituencies
- corn laws
- corruption
- Daniel O'Connell
- duels
- election corruption
- Electioneering
- Election petitions
- Elections
- electoral reform
- Female participation
- Fitzwilliam family
- free trade
- general elections
- Greenwich
- Hansard
- Ireland
- John Stuart Mill
- Liberal party
- Local government
- military MPs
- Mirror of Parliament
- MP of the Month
- Navy
- Newspaper press
- Oldham
- parliamentary reporting
- Parliament Fire
- party labels
- petitioning
- photography
- poetry
- Polling
- public opinion and Parliament
- radicalism
- railways
- Registration
- religion
- Richard Cobden
- science
- Scotland
- secret ballot
- Sir Robert Peel
- slavery
- Southampton
- speeches
- Thomas Attwood
- ventilator
- Vote 100
- Waterloo
- Westminster Fire
- William Gladstone
- women
- women's suffrage
- Women voters
Archives
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
Author Archives: Martin Spychal
‘A strenuous and able Reformer’: Dr Stephen Lushington (1782-1873)
This month we take a look at Dr Stephen Lushington (1782-1873). One of six anti-slavery campaigners whose names are inscribed on the Buxton Memorial Fountain in London, Lushington famously served as Queen Caroline’s legal counsel in 1820. As MP for … Continue reading
‘The Donkey and his young asses’: stationery, corruption and the short-lived parliamentary career of Sir John Key (1794-1858)
This month our research fellow, Dr Martin Spychal, takes a look at the humiliating demise of Sir John Key, or ‘Sir Don Key’ as he was widely mocked at Westminster. As Lord Mayor of London and one of Britain’s most … Continue reading
Posted in Corruption, MP of the Month
Leave a comment
‘The power of returning our members will henceforth be in our own hands’: parliamentary reform and its impact on Exeter, 1820-1868
This week Dr Martin Spychal, research fellow for the Commons 1832-68, uses polling and voter registration data to explore the 1832 Reform Act’s impact on elections in Exeter. This blog was originally published on the History of Parliament blog as … Continue reading
Posted in Constituencies, Elections, party labels, Voting and Divisions
Tagged 1832 Reform Act, 1867 Reform Act, boundaries, Devon, devon history, exeter, Exeter elections, Exeter Guildhall, Featured, General election, local and community history, local history, parliamentary reform, Polling
Leave a comment
Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916): the life of a queer MP at the time of the Second Reform Act
Dr Martin Spychal introduces his new series of blogs for the Victorian Commons on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), who was elected as MP for Sutherland in 1867. Born into ‘the inner circle of English aristocratic life’, Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916) … Continue reading
From parliamentary reporter to Member of Parliament: Robert Spankie (1774-1842)
January’s MP of the Month takes a look at the unusual pre-parliamentary career of Robert Spankie, who was returned for Finsbury in 1832. A ground-breaking parliamentary reporter during the 1790s, Spankie ascended to the editorship of the Morning Chronicle before re-training as a barrister and serving as a controversial advocate-general of Bengal. Continue reading
MP of the Month: William Tooke and the royal charters of the University of London
Following our blogs on the creation of the University of London constituency in 1868 and its first MP, Robert Lowe, August’s MP of the Month is William Tooke. As MP for Truro from 1832, Tooke worked tirelessly to secure a royal charter for the London University (later University College London) in order that it could grant degrees to its students. Continue reading
The representation of Devon and Cornwall after reform, 1832-68
Last week the History of Parliament and the Devon and Cornwall Record Society hosted a conference at Exeter on ‘The South West and Parliament’. Dr Martin Spychal of the Victorian Commons spoke at the event, and today provides an overview of … Continue reading
The Disruption, Parliament and Conservative division: Alexander Campbell (1811-1869)
In May 1843 a schism in the Church of Scotland, better known as the Disruption, led to the creation of the evangelical Free Church of Scotland. It was the culmination of a decade-long conflict over the ability of parishioners to appoint their minister, and wider concerns over state interference with the Scottish Church. April’s MP of the Month is the Conservative MP for Argyllshire, Alexander Campbell, who was one of the founding elders of the Free Church. His ruthless electioneering in Argyllshire from 1836, eventual election in 1841, and failed legislative attempts to prevent the breakup of the Church placed the looming controversy at the centre of parliamentary politics. It also revealed irreconcilable differences between the Conservative Prime Minister Robert Peel and one of his few Scottish backbenchers. Continue reading
The Anglican clergy and English elections, 1832-37
This week we hear from Nicholas Dixon, of Pembroke College, Cambridge, on clerical influence in the reformed electoral system. It is one of the themes addressed in his PhD, which examines the Church of England’s influence on English politics and society … Continue reading
Posted in Elections, Guest blog
Tagged Church of England, clergy, clerical influence, religion
1 Comment
Science, parliamentary inquiry and the Whig decade of reform
In January two members of the Victorian Commons project spoke in Oxford at the ‘From “Old Corruption” to the New Corruption?’ conference, organised jointly by Oxford Brookes and Newman Universities. This week Dr Martin Spychal takes a look at one of the … Continue reading
Posted in Conferences and seminars, Legislation
Tagged 1832 Reform Act, boundary commission, Lord Brougham, science, SDUK, Thomas Drummond
3 Comments
Innovation, corruption and bankruptcy: Charles John Mare (1814-1898)
Charles John Mare (1814-1898) was an innovative East End shipbuilder. Thought to be a millionaire when he was returned for Plymouth in 1852, his election proved the apex of his career. He was unseated for bribery in 1853, and declared bankrupt, for the first of four times, in 1855. Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, Corruption, Elections, Images of MPs, Uncategorized
Tagged bankruptcy, East End, London, Plymouth, shipbuilding, West Ham
2 Comments
The University of London, representation and the 1867 Reform Act
Last week, as part of UK Parliament Week, we held a special event with the University of London to mark the 150th anniversary of the university returning its first MP to parliament. At the 1868 general election all University of … Continue reading
‘So much for the behaviour of the first assemblage of gentlemen’: views from parliament by a Devonshire Tory
Our Victorian MP of the Month is the Conservative MP for Devonshire South, Montagu Parker. His correspondence with his mother between 1835 and 1841 provides a fascinating perspective on life at Westminster. Montagu Edmund Newcombe Parker (1807-1858) is best known … Continue reading
Imagery and props: the Wellington boot, Disraeli’s novels and Gladstone’s axe
Our research fellow Dr. Martin Spychal shares some insights from his work on the BBC Radio 4 series, Prime Ministers’ Props… I’ve recently been working with our former editorial board member, Professor Sir David Cannadine on the second series of … Continue reading
MP of the Month: Joseph Locke (1805-1860)
Our Victorian MP of the Month is Joseph Locke (1805-1860), who represented Honiton from 1847 until his death. With Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) and Robert Stephenson (1803-1859), Locke formed the ‘triumvirate of the engineering world’, who laid the architecture of … Continue reading
Posted in MP of the Month
Tagged engineering, Honiton, Joseph Locke, monuments and memorials, railways, William Huskisson
2 Comments
MP of the Month: George Donisthorpe Thompson (1804-1878)
December’s MP of the Month blog charts the path into Parliament of George Thompson, a self-educated book-seller’s son. As one of Britain’s foremost platform orators he was a major figure in the abolition of slavery in the West Indies and … Continue reading
Posted in Elections, MP of the Month, women, Working-class politics
Tagged Abolition of slavery, Abolitionists, American Civil war, Anti-Corn Law League, British India Society, Dwarkanauth Tagore, Female participation, Frederick Douglass, George Thompson, indian independence, Lord Brougham, March of Intellect, slavery, Southampton, Tower Hamlets
1 Comment
MP of the Month: Charles Gilpin (1815-1874)
One of the most illuminating aspects of our work for the Victorian Commons is the discovery of significant, but long-forgotten, parliamentarians. September’s MP of the Month, Charles Gilpin (1815-1874), certainly falls under this description. As the first and only Quaker … Continue reading
Some parallels: the 1832 and 2018 boundary reviews
To celebrate the recent open-access publication of his article ‘‘One of the best men of business we had ever met’: Thomas Drummond, the boundary commission and the 1832 Reform Act’, our Research Fellow on the 1832-1868 project, Dr Martin Spychal, … Continue reading
Five elections in seven years: Peterborough, Whalley and the Fitzwilliam interest
With suggestions of election fatigue setting in across Britain, this week’s blog – featuring our MP of the Month, George Hammond Whalley – looks at a constituency which saw five elections held in seven years between 1852 and 1859: the … Continue reading
‘Fighting, swearing, drinking, and squabbling’: Charles Dickens, Eatanswill and the 1835 Northamptonshire North by-election
Today’s blog marks the anniversary of Charles Dickens’s birth by exploring the inspiration behind one of the most notable political events in his first novel. Dickens’s riotous description of the Eatanswill borough election in the Pickwick Papers, first published in July … Continue reading
MP of the Month: Charles Capper (1822-1869)
Continuing with our recent theme of unlikely parliamentarians, our MP of the Month is Charles Capper, the son of a Manchester weaver. Capper made his fortune in the shipping industry, and wrote a notable history of the port of London, … Continue reading
‘The sagacity of the elephant, as well as the form’: MP of the Month, George Ward Hunt (1825-77)
The recent rise of a certain parson’s daughter to the premiership provides a fitting opportunity to consider the unexpected ascent of a parson’s son to one of the great offices of state during the 1860s – George Ward Hunt, Conservative … Continue reading
A family affair: the Knightleys and Northamptonshire South, 1832-1868
The double-member county division of Northamptonshire South is often associated with the Spencer family, most notably Viscount Althorp (later the third Earl Spencer and older brother of Princess Diana’s great-great-grandfather), who played a key role in the reforming ministry of … Continue reading
