Tag Archives: railways

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 →

Posted in Constituencies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 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

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 →

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

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 →

Posted in Biographies, MP of the Month, party labels | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

MP of the Month: Joseph Locke (1805-1860)

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Martin Spychal

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 , , , , , | 2 Comments

MP of the Month: Charles Capper (1822-1869)

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Martin Spychal

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 →

Posted in 1832-68 preview site, Biographies, MP of the Month, Working-class politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Virtually a fourth class of passenger carriage’: the parliamentary train

Posted on October 29, 2012 by sball1832

With the pleasures and pitfalls of Britain’s rail services now frequently in the news, it is worth recalling that the relationship between Parliament and the iron road is a long one. In fact, the principle of legislative interference in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment