Category Archives: women

“To wring the widow from her customed right”: the debate about the ‘widow franchise’ in nineteenth-century Britain

Posted on May 3, 2023 by salmonphilip

Our recent History of Parliament / University of East Anglia conference on ‘Politics before Democracy’ featured over 30 papers on topics ranging across the 18th and 19th centuries. Over the next few weeks we’ll be posting some summaries as part … Continue reading →

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Ballot boxes, bills and unions: Harriet Grote (1792-1878) and the public campaign for the ballot, 1832-9

Posted on May 16, 2022 by Martin Spychal

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the 1872 Ballot Act, which introduced secret voting at general elections in the UK. In this extended blog, our research fellow, Dr Martin Spychal, explores the role of Harriet Grote (1792-1878) in the … Continue reading →

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‘She, yes, she was the only member of parliament’: Harriet Grote, radical parliamentary tactics and House of Lords reform, 1835-6

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Martin Spychal

In the fifth of his blogs on Harriet Grote (1792-1878), our research fellow Dr Martin Spychal explores Harriet’s relationship with the veteran radical Francis Place (1771-1854), her views on radical tactics and her increasingly resourceful strategies for influencing Parliament during the 1835 and … Continue reading →

Posted in Harriet Grote, Harriet Grote, Ireland, Parliamentary life, Voting and Divisions, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Another of my female politicians’ epistles’: Harriet Grote (1792-1878), the 1835 Parliament and the failed attempt to establish a radical party

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Martin Spychal

In the fourth of his blogs on Harriet Grote (1792-1878), our research fellow Dr Martin Spychal looks at Harriet’s involvement in the abortive attempt to establish a radical party at Westminster in the wake of the 1835 election. In November … Continue reading →

Posted in Harriet Grote, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Happy New Year from the Victorian Commons!

Posted on January 1, 2022 by salmonphilip

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 →

Posted in Elections, Harriet Grote, Ireland, Monarchs, Parliamentary buildings, Parliamentary life, religion, Resources, Uncategorized, women | 1 Comment

Harriet Grote (1792-1878) and the first reformed Parliament, 1833-34: a woman at Westminster

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Martin Spychal

Harriet Grote (1792-1878), our research fellow Dr Martin Spychal, looks at Harriet’s introduction to politics at Westminster during the first ‘reformed’ Parliament of 1833-34. Continue reading →

Posted in Harriet Grote, Harriet Grote, Legislation, Parliamentary life, party labels, Uncategorized, women | 5 Comments

The queen and the chemist’s son: Matthew Wood MP and the radical defence of Queen Caroline

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Martin Spychal

Matthew Wood (1768-1843) represented London as a radical reformer between 1817 and 1843. From 1832 he was a committed advocate of metropolitan legislation and an active figure in the committee corridors. As a founding member, and landlord, of the short-lived … Continue reading →

Posted in Biographies, women | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The radical hostess of Parliament Street: Harriet Grote (1792-1878), the 1832 election and establishing influence as a woman at Westminster

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Martin Spychal

In the second of his blogs on Harriet Grote (1792-1878), our research fellow, Dr Martin Spychal, explores Harriet’s introduction to electoral politics at the 1832 election and her preparations for the 1833 parliamentary session… The 1832 election introduced Harriet Grote … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Harriet Grote, women | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Pubs and drink in Victorian elections

Posted on April 23, 2021 by salmonphilip

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 , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

‘Had she been a man, she would have been the leader of a party’: Harriet Grote (1792-1878), radicalism and Parliament, 1820-41

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Martin Spychal

In the first of his blogs on Harriet Grote (1792-1878), our research fellow Dr Martin Spychal, explores Harriet’s early life, her emergence as a central figure among London’s intellectual radicals during the 1820s and her arrival on the Westminster political … Continue reading →

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A Highland canvass in a ‘pocket county’: Ronald Gower (1845-1916) and the 1867 Sutherland by-election

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Martin Spychal

In the fourth blog of his series on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), Dr Martin Spychal, uses Gower’s diaries to provide some rare insights into mid-Victorian electioneering in the ‘pocket county’ of Sutherland. This blog was also posted as part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Constituencies, Elections, Parliamentary life, Queer Parliamentary Life, Ronald Gower Series, Scotland, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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 →

Posted in Parliamentary buildings, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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…

Posted in Guest blog, women | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The representation of Devon and Cornwall after reform, 1832-68

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Martin Spychal

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 →

Posted in Biographies, Conferences and seminars, Constituencies, Corruption, Elections, Parliamentary life, party labels, Uncategorized, Voting and Divisions, women, Working-class politics | 5 Comments

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 →

Posted in Guest blog, Parliamentary buildings, women | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

‘So much for the behaviour of the first assemblage of gentlemen’: views from parliament by a Devonshire Tory

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Martin Spychal

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 →

Posted in Biographies, Constituencies, Elections, MP of the Month, Parliamentary life, women | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

MP of the Month: Henry Fawcett (1833-84)

Posted on July 19, 2018 by salmonphilip

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 , , , , | 4 Comments

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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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 →

Posted in women | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

MP of the Month: George Donisthorpe Thompson (1804-1878)

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Martin Spychal

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘A woman actually voted!’: Lily Maxwell and the Manchester by-election of November 1867

Posted on November 26, 2017 by Kathryn Rix

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the casting of a parliamentary vote by Lily Maxwell, a Manchester shopkeeper, more than half a century before the partial enfranchisement of women in 1918. On 26 November 1867, at a by-election in Manchester, … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

‘The only really important public service I performed’: John Stuart Mill’s women’s suffrage amendment, 20 May 1867

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Kathryn Rix

Our MP of the Month is John Stuart Mill (1806-73), who sat as Liberal MP for Westminster, 1865-8. One hundred and fifty years ago this week, the House of Commons voted for the first time on the question of granting … Continue reading →

Posted in MP of the Month, women | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

‘The first humble beginnings of an agitation’: the women’s suffrage petition of 7 June 1866

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Kathryn Rix

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the presentation to Parliament of the first mass women’s suffrage petition on 7 June 1866. Signed by around 1,500 women, it was presented to the Commons by John Stuart Mill, who had been returned … Continue reading →

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Parliament Week 2013: Women in Democracy

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Kathryn Rix

To mark Parliament Week 2013, the theme of which is ‘Women in Democracy’, we would like to share some of our recent research highlighting the varied nature of female participation in British political life during the nineteenth century, despite the … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, women | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Victorian female franchise

Posted on March 18, 2013 by salmonphilip

Welcome to the first of our guest blogs. On BBC Radio 4 tonight Dr Sarah Richardson presents a programme about the discovery of an early Victorian poll book listing women voters (click here to listen). Female participation in non-parliamentary elections … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Guest blog, Local government, women | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments