Links
-
Join 257 other subscribers
Copyright
The text on this site belongs to the History of Parliament and should not be reproduced without permission.-
Recent Posts
- Mental illness on trial: Henry Meux’s commission of lunacy and the 1857 general election
- Politics before Democracy Conference
- Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons!
- The Absentee MP
- “An upholder of the old liberal opinions”: the political career of Charles Owen O’Conor, the O’Conor Don (1838-1906)
Victorian Commons on Twitter
- A reminder of our new blog for January. twitter.com/TheVictCommons… 51 minutes ago
- Charles Knightley, who was born #OnThisDay 1781, and his son Rainald were both MPs for Northamptonshire South. Find… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 6 hours ago
Categories
- 1832-68 preview site
- Biographies
- Chartism
- Conferences and seminars
- Constituencies
- Corruption
- Elections
- Empire
- Forthcoming events
- Guest blog
- Harriet Grote
- Harriet Grote
- Images of MPs
- Ireland
- Legislation
- Leisure
- LGBT+ History Month
- Local government
- Materiality
- Monarchs
- MP of the Month
- Parliamentary buildings
- Parliamentary life
- party labels
- Prime Ministers
- Publications
- Queer Parliamentary Life
- religion
- Resources
- Ronald Gower Series
- Scotland
- Speakers
- Uncategorized
- Voting and Divisions
- Wales
- women
- Working-class politics
Researching the House of Commons
- 1832 Reform Act
- 1832-68 preview site
- 1867 Reform Act
- ballot
- Benjamin Disraeli
- Biographies
- boundary changes
- boundary commission
- buildings; temporary House of Commons; Westminster; Westminster fire
- By-elections
- ceremonial
- Charles Barry
- Charles Dickens
- Christmas
- colonies
- conferences
- Conservative
- Conservative party
- Constituencies
- corn laws
- corruption
- Daniel O'Connell
- division lobbies
- divisions
- election corruption
- Electioneering
- Election petitions
- Elections
- electoral reform
- Female participation
- Fitzwilliam family
- free trade
- general elections
- George Grote
- Greenwich
- Hansard
- Harriet Grote
- House of Lords
- Ireland
- Liberal party
- Local government
- military MPs
- MP of the Month
- Navy
- Newspaper press
- Parliamentary buildings
- parliamentary reporting
- Parliament Fire
- party labels
- petitioning
- photography
- plumping
- poetry
- Polling
- Prorogation
- public opinion and Parliament
- radicalism
- railways
- Registration
- religion
- Resources
- Ronald Gower
- science
- Scotland
- secret ballot
- shipping
- Sir Robert Peel
- slavery
- speeches
- Wales
- Westminster Fire
- William Gladstone
- women
- women's suffrage
- Women voters
Archives
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- 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: salmonphilip
Politics before Democracy Conference
Call for Papers, deadline – 17 February 2023 The History of Parliament and the School of History, University of East Anglia, would like to invite proposals for papers for ‘Politics Before Democracy: Britain and its world, c.1750-1914’. This two-day conference, … Continue reading
The 1872 Secret Ballot and Multiple Member Seats
Following on from our recent events and blogs marking the 150th anniversary of the introduction of the secret ballot, Dr Philip Salmon explores some of the Act’s lesser known and unintended consequences. The Ballot Act of 1872 sits alongside the … Continue reading
‘Damn the secret ballot’: the UK’s public voting system before 1872
This online event was recorded and can be viewed here. As we approach next week’s online event celebrating the 150th anniversary of the act which introduced the secret ballot for municipal and parliamentary elections, it’s perhaps worth looking again at … Continue reading
Posted in Corruption, Elections, Forthcoming events
Tagged Electioneering, Female participation, secret ballot, secret voting
1 Comment
190th Anniversary of the 1832 Reform Act
This month marks the 190th anniversary of the passing of the 1832 Reform Act, one of the iconic milestones in modern British political history. ‘Was the 1832 Reform Act “Great”?’ may not be the standard exam question it once was, … Continue reading
Posted in Corruption, Elections
Tagged 1832 Reform Act, corruption, electoral reform, Franchise, parliamentary reform, redistribution of seats
3 Comments
‘Standing between two extremes’: James Wentworth Buller MP and the politics of moderation
The development of a more rigid party system has been a recurrent theme in many of our blogs about Victorian politics, including this one about ‘Defying the Whip‘. Few MPs, however, had their political careers destroyed and then resurrected quite … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, party labels
Tagged Exeter elections, James Wentworth Buller, North Devon, party affiliation, party labels
1 Comment
Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons!
This new year (2022) marks our tenth anniversary of blogging about Victorian politics and society. Almost 300 blogs have now appeared on these pages, mainly written by researchers (past and present) working on the 1832-68 House of Commons project at … Continue reading
From colonial council to Parliament: the career of John Dunn MP
How Victorian Britain exported a Westminster system of politics to its colonies, both in terms of parliamentary structures and personnel, has been a recurrent theme of much recent historical work. Our own project has also helped shed new light on … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, Constituencies, Elections
Tagged Biographies, colonies, Dartmouth, Electioneering, legislative council, Tasmania, Van Diemen's land
1 Comment
Colloquium on ‘The British Aristocracy and the Modern World’
Readers of the Victorian Commons may be interested in an online colloquium on 19 November entitled ‘The British Aristocracy and the Modern World’, marking the 30th anniversary of David Cannadine’s The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy. Organised by … Continue reading
Posted in Conferences and seminars
Leave a comment
The politics of a coronation: reaction and reform in 1821
This month the UK Parliament will be hosting an online presentation marking the coronation of George IV 200 years ago. To sign up for this free event please click here. In this blog Dr Philip Salmon explores some of the … Continue reading
Posted in Conferences and seminars, Forthcoming events, Monarchs
Tagged coronation, George IV, Liberal Tory, Queen Caroline
1 Comment
Pubs and drink in Victorian elections
Most of us probably think of pubs as informal spaces for leisure and socialising. In the period we research for the House of Commons 1832-1868 project, however, things were rather different. Public houses played a central role in many of … Continue reading
Posted in Constituencies, Corruption, Elections, women
Tagged alcohol, bribery, conveyance, drink, public house, pubs, railways, temperance, treating
8 Comments
Vaccination and the Vote: a Victorian dilemma
With mass vaccinations underway across the nation, spare a thought for the Victorian pioneers of the UK’s first major vaccination programme, against smallpox. As well as battling against all sorts of safety fears and logistical problems, they unwittingly found themselves … Continue reading
Posted in Elections, Local government, Uncategorized
Tagged Boards of Guardians, Poor Law, Registration, vaccination, Voting rights
2 Comments
Professor Angus Hawkins (1953-2020)
We were deeply saddened to learn of the sudden death of Professor Angus Hawkins shortly before Christmas. His publications will be familiar to anyone working on 19th century politics, an area of study that he helped to refine and reshape … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
2 Comments
Elected without his consent: William Wilshere (1804-67) and the venal electors of Great Yarmouth
The huge financial cost of Victorian elections, especially in venal constituencies, has been a recurrent theme in some of our more recent blogs. It’s tempting to think of the MPs associated with bribery, treating and other forms of electoral corruption … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, Constituencies, Corruption, Elections, Images of MPs, MP of the Month
Tagged bribery, corruption, election corruption
1 Comment
A ‘pocket’ borough or a borough needing deep pockets? Abingdon’s elections in the nineteenth century
In this blog, originally posted on the main History of Parliament site, Dr Philip Salmon examines the parliamentary representation of Abingdon in the 19th century. Abingdon was widely regarded as an easily managed ‘pocket’ or ‘nomination’ borough during the 19th … Continue reading
MP of the Month: Thomas Barrett Lennard (1788-1856)
Thomas Barrett Lennard‘s career neatly captures some of the oddities and contradictions of early Victorian politics, especially the survival of older attitudes and beliefs alongside the emergence of more ‘modern’ progressive ideas. Lennard’s campaign to abolish the death penalty for … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, MP of the Month
Tagged capital punishment, freemen, Maldon, MP of the Month, municipal franchise, slavery, women
2 Comments
Floods, Plagues and the Second Coming: Charles Augustus Tulk MP
Apocalyptic end days, doomsday scenarios and final judgements were prominent features of many people’s religious beliefs in the 19th century, but a few went further, maintaining that the Second Coming had already taken place. Among them was our MP of … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, MP of the Month, religion
2 Comments
Sir Robert Peel and the modern Conservative party
Today (5 Feb) marks the birthday of Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), the 19th century prime minister traditionally credited with founding the modern Conservative party. Peel is also subject of a new BBC ‘Prime Properties’ episode – click here to view … Continue reading
Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons!
For eight years now we have been marking the new year with some highlights from the previous 12 months. The events of 2019 certainly focused attention on parliamentary history and the UK’s constitutional practices as never before. Taking our cue … Continue reading
Posted in Elections, Uncategorized
Tagged election corruption, Electioneering, Jack Whitehall, MP of the Month, newport, peterloo, Prorogation, Registration, speaker
Leave a comment
MP of the Month: Thomas Neville Abdy (1810-1877) and electoral misconduct
Thomas Abdy’s political career provides a useful reminder of the chicanery, lies and corruption sometimes associated with 19th century English electioneering – venal traditions that became increasingly unacceptable during the Victorian era. Born into a naval family – his father … Continue reading
MP of the Month: Sidney Herbert – still dancing to Nightingale’s tune
September’s MP of the Month is Sidney Herbert, who was born on this day (16 September) in 1810 and widely expected to become a Victorian prime minister. Fate, however, cruelly intervened, as Dr Ruscombe Foster, the author of an important … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, Guest blog, MP of the Month
Tagged army reform, Crimean War, Florence Nightingale, Liberal party, Sidney Herbert
2 Comments
Political Prorogations: a view from the Victorian Commons
It’s been a long time since the business of suspending Parliament and starting a new session has generated so much political controversy. Throughout most of the 20th century prorogations invariably tallied with the expectations of most parliamentarians, neatly book-ending a … Continue reading
‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ Thomas Jones Phillips (1790-1843): pioneering Tory election agent
If you think some of the recent electioneering tactics that have hit the headlines seem extraordinary, spare a thought for the voters of Monmouth in the 1830s. As a new episode of the BBC’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ … Continue reading
Political protest in the age of Peterloo
Originally posted on The History of Parliament:
Today’s blog from the editor of our House of Commons 1832-68 section, Dr Philip Salmon, is the first of many pieces in which we will discuss the Peterloo Massacre that took place in…
Posted in Uncategorized
3 Comments
Conscience versus constituency: the dilemma facing Henry Sturt MP
The Victorian Commons, as some of our recent blogs have shown, was an important testing ground for many of the practices and parliamentary procedures that remain in place today. It also provides early examples of MPs having to grapple with … Continue reading
Posted in MP of the Month
Tagged agricultural protection, Conservative party, corn laws, Dorset, party loyalty, Party rebellions, Sir Robert Peel
1 Comment
Electoral malpractice and uncivil political speech: the case of Alfred Seymour MP
Our ‘MP of the Month’ blog highlights some themes still fresh in our minds after attending a conference on corruption at Oxford Brookes University. Alfred Seymour (1824-1888) was the younger brother of the better known archaeologist and explorer Henry Danby … Continue reading
Lord Derby, ‘centre’ parties and minority government
150 years ago the Conservative prime minister Lord Derby retired from office, having managed to pass one of the most significant constitutional reform packages of the 19th century – despite leading a minority government. This post examines the career of … Continue reading
MP of the Month: Henry Fawcett (1833-84)
Continuing our recent focus on the personalities and campaigns associated with ‘votes for women’, our MP of the Month highlights the remarkable career of Henry Fawcett, husband of the leading suffragist Millicent Fawcett (1847-1929), whose statue was unveiled in Parliament … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, MP of the Month, women
Tagged blind, Henry Fawcett, suffragist, Vote 100, votes for women
4 Comments
Upcoming event: Victorian Elections & Political Culture Workshop
On Friday 20 April 2018 the Research Centre in Victorian Political Culture, led by Professor Angus Hawkins, will be hosting a workshop on Victorian politics aimed at graduate students in the Jean Robinson Room, Keble College, Oxford OX1 3PG. The seminars … Continue reading
MP of the Month: John Barton Willis Fleming (1781-1844)
With modern electioneering tactics currently attracting so much scrutiny at home and abroad, our Victorian MP of the Month focuses on a notorious election fixer or ‘boroughmonger’, whose activities increasingly pushed the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. His refusal to answer … Continue reading
Parliaments and Popular Sovereignty Conference
On 22 March 2018 the History of Parliament will be hosting an event at Westminster featuring 19th century highlights from the recent conference: ‘Parliaments and Popular Sovereignty: Political Representation in the British world, 1640-1886’. This conference was held at the … Continue reading
Posted in Conferences and seminars, Forthcoming events
Tagged Daniel O'Connell, petitions, Third Reform Act
Leave a comment
MP of the Month: Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (1825-1899)
Continuing our celebration of the 150th anniversary of the 1867 Reform Act, November’s MP of the Month focuses on one of the most enigmatic figures in the reform crisis of 1866-67, the property-owning magnate and multi-millionaire Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, later … Continue reading
Reporting Parliament: a view from the Victorian Commons
Today we take it for granted that parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. In the Victorian era, however, there was no ‘official’ record. In this blog to end Parliament Week, Dr Philip Salmon shows how, before the advent of modern … Continue reading
Parliaments and Popular Sovereignty Conference: Manchester
Last week two members of the Victorian Commons project gave papers in Manchester, at a conference held at the People’s History Museum, home to what must surely be one of the UK’s finest collections of political memorabilia associated with mass … Continue reading
MP of the Month: Sir Philip de Malpas Grey-Egerton (1806-81)
Many of our recent ‘MP of the Month’ posts have focused on self-made men from non-élite backgrounds. Their numbers on the back benches and contribution to the practical business of Parliament (especially in committee) grew dramatically during the Victorian era. … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, MP of the Month
Tagged cheese, Cheshire South, Chester, Conservative party, fossils, MP of the Month
Leave a comment
Minority governments and major change: a Victorian view
For most modern commentators the prospects for minority governments, based on the experience of the last half century or so, don’t look particularly good. Nearly all the recent examples currently being revisited by analysts, such as those of the 1970s, … Continue reading
Local polls and general elections: a Victorian perspective
As barometers of political opinion, local elections have long had a special place in British politics, offering useful (though not necessarily accurate) guides to national trends. The link between local and national polls, however, has always been complicated. As the … Continue reading
Call for Papers: conference on ‘Parliaments and Popular Sovereignty’, 3-4 Nov. 2017
Durham University and the History of Parliament are hosting a conference with the People’s History Museum in Manchester, 3-4 Nov. 2017, with support from the Royal Historical Society and Durham University’s Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies. For further details see below … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Defying the Whip: ‘rebel’ MP of the month, Swynfen Jervis (1797-1867)
One of the themes being explored by the Victorian Commons project is the decline of ‘independence’ in the 19th-century Commons and the rise of party-based voting by MPs – a development neatly captured in Gilbert and Sullivan’s famous lampoon of … Continue reading
MP of the month: James Barlow Hoy (1794-1843)
As biographies of long-forgotten politicians go, this month’s MP ticks all the boxes, offering an extraordinary rags-to-riches tale, the beginnings of a brilliant political career accompanied by fraud and bankruptcy, and even an allegation of murder. Hoy, or Barlow as … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, MP of the Month
Tagged Biographies, Conservative party, corruption, election songs, MP of the Month, secret ballot, Southampton
1 Comment
Petitioning Parliament: two PhD studentships
One of our former colleagues, Dr Henry Miller, has recently secured a major grant to further his work on petitioning, as part of an important new project with Dr Richard Huzzey at the University of Durham. Petitioning has long been … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
An ‘upstart from the ranks’: MP of the Month, John Thomas Norris (1808-70)
Norris’s political career illustrates a number of the striking developments being explored in our work on the Victorian Commons, including the ever-expanding number of ‘non-elite’ MPs; the role of town council elections as a stepping stone to Parliament; and the … Continue reading
MP of the month: Rowland Alston (1782-1865)
Rowland Alston’s career provides a useful illustration of just how diverse (and to a modern eye incongruous) the political outlook of MPs in the same party could be before the development of more formal modern political allegiances. It also serves … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, MP of the Month
Tagged duels, free trade, Liberal party, MP of the Month, Sir Robert Peel, slavery
Leave a comment
MP of the month: William Pinney and another kind of ‘slavery election’
William Pinney’s career as an MP serves as an important reminder of the legacy of slave ownership in British public life and the very different attitudes to electoral corruption that existed in the nineteenth century, even among radically-inclined Liberals. In Pinney’s … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, Constituencies, Corruption, Elections, MP of the Month
Tagged Female participation, Lyme Regis, Mary Anning, slavery
3 Comments
180th Anniversary of Town Council Elections
This month marks the anniversary of a completely new system of local elections being implemented throughout England and Wales. One hundred and eighty years ago, almost 180 boroughs in England and Wales began to publish the lists of all those … Continue reading
Posted in Elections, Local government
Tagged council elections, Local government, municipal reform, town councils
5 Comments
Goodbye and Good Luck to Dr James Owen!
This month we bid farewell to Dr James Owen, who is leaving the 1832-68 project for a teaching post in the USA. Since joining us in 2009 James has completed over 200 MP biographies and almost 30 full-length constituency articles … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Victorian Political Memorabilia
One of the many eye-openers of this project has been the sheer amount of political memorabilia produced by the Victorians. British politics has of course always been associated with satirical prints and various forms of commemorative art. However, the volume … Continue reading
MP of the month: Sir Harry Neale and ‘outside interests’
The issue of MPs having ‘outside interests’ is not one traditionally associated with the Victorian period, when all MPs were unpaid and had to fund their own election campaigns, often at vast expense. Victorian MPs, almost ipso facto, had to … Continue reading
Posted in Biographies, MP of the Month, Parliamentary life
Tagged Lord Palmerston, military MPs, Navy, outside interests
Leave a comment
Catholics in the Commons: part 1
As we celebrate Bonfire Night, it is worth reflecting on the anti-Catholicism still faced by Catholic MPs in the Victorian Commons, over two centuries years after Guy Fawkes’s failed attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605. It may seem surprising … Continue reading
MP of the month: Wyndham Lewis
Wyndham Lewis (1780-1838) is probably best remembered today for bankrolling the future prime minister Benjamin Disraeli’s election to Parliament. Lewis’s wife Mary, an aspiring society hostess with an eye for younger men, had taken a shine to Disraeli and adopted … Continue reading