Victorian Commons
@victoriancommons.bsky.social
The History of Parliament's House of Commons 1832-1945 project, currently researching MPs, elections and parliamentary history between 1832 and 1868. Find more details on our website: https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/
This is Fenton's Hotel, given as an address for several of our MPs during the parliamentary session. Among the residents in March 1835 were the newly selected Speaker James Abercromby and his wife, who were waiting for the outgoing Speaker Charles Manners Sutton to move out of Palace Yard.
November 25, 2025 at 3:11 PM
This is Fenton's Hotel, given as an address for several of our MPs during the parliamentary session. Among the residents in March 1835 were the newly selected Speaker James Abercromby and his wife, who were waiting for the outgoing Speaker Charles Manners Sutton to move out of Palace Yard.
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Looking forward to hearing about the duchess of Gordon and the late 18C ‘tartan rage’ at tonight’s IHR Parliaments, Politics and People ONLINE seminar. Sign up FREE at the link below! historyofparliament.com/2025/11/18/t... @nemgarrett.bsky.social
‘The Tartan Rage’: Fashion, High Society, and Scottish Identity in Eighteenth-Century London - The History of Parliament
The Tartan rage has at length reached Paris,’ declared the World in June 1787. Demand for tartan fabric and accessories had swept British high society earlier that year, with the Gazetteer and New Dai...
historyofparliament.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Looking forward to hearing about the duchess of Gordon and the late 18C ‘tartan rage’ at tonight’s IHR Parliaments, Politics and People ONLINE seminar. Sign up FREE at the link below! historyofparliament.com/2025/11/18/t... @nemgarrett.bsky.social
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4/ Dr Kathryn Rix's article on the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838 reveals that the future Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, was unsatisfied with the then PM Viscount Melbourne's performance, stating he was 'holding the great sword of state like a butcher': buff.ly/630BgbS
A 'noble' and 'magnificent' occasion: MPs and Queen Victoria's coronation - The History of Parliament
Dr Kathryn Rix, assistant editor of our Commons 1832-1868 project, reflects on the guestlist for Queen Victoria's coronation and the privileged view MPs had of proceedings.
historyofparliament.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:15 AM
4/ Dr Kathryn Rix's article on the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838 reveals that the future Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, was unsatisfied with the then PM Viscount Melbourne's performance, stating he was 'holding the great sword of state like a butcher': buff.ly/630BgbS
Looking forward to listening to this later. Our senior research fellow @martinspychal.bsky.social was the series researcher.
In the second episode of 'Materials of State', David Cannadine will be exploring the importance of the Sword of State, which you can listen to at 1:45pm today on BBC Radio 4.
Looking through our archive we have highlighted some of our favourite ways the Sword of State has appeared in our research 🧵
Looking through our archive we have highlighted some of our favourite ways the Sword of State has appeared in our research 🧵
November 25, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Looking forward to listening to this later. Our senior research fellow @martinspychal.bsky.social was the series researcher.
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William Fatt, a chimney sweep from Pye St, Westminster voted in the 1749 Westminster by-election for George Vandeput.
It seems likely this is the same Mr Fatt noted in the press as sweep to the royal palaces (1739) and would make him the second identified Black voter in that election.
#HistParl
It seems likely this is the same Mr Fatt noted in the press as sweep to the royal palaces (1739) and would make him the second identified Black voter in that election.
#HistParl
July 1739: the General Evening Post reports the death of Mr Kent, holder of the office of chimney sweeper to the king's palaces 'a place of considerable profit'. He is succeeded in the post by a Mr Fatt. Both are described as being Black, so presumably of African heritage.
November 24, 2025 at 5:54 PM
William Fatt, a chimney sweep from Pye St, Westminster voted in the 1749 Westminster by-election for George Vandeput.
It seems likely this is the same Mr Fatt noted in the press as sweep to the royal palaces (1739) and would make him the second identified Black voter in that election.
#HistParl
It seems likely this is the same Mr Fatt noted in the press as sweep to the royal palaces (1739) and would make him the second identified Black voter in that election.
#HistParl
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Died #OTD 1848, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Although his first ministry survived four months, he was able to return to the position following the 1835 general election after Peel and the Conservatives were unable to secure a majority:
Although his first ministry survived four months, he was able to return to the position following the 1835 general election after Peel and the Conservatives were unable to secure a majority:
The evolving electoral system: the 1835 and 1865 general elections compared - The History of Parliament
The 1835 and 1865 general elections both took place under the electoral system established by the 1832 Reform Act, with 1865 being the last general election before the 1867 Reform Act made…
historyofparliament.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Died #OTD 1848, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Although his first ministry survived four months, he was able to return to the position following the 1835 general election after Peel and the Conservatives were unable to secure a majority:
Although his first ministry survived four months, he was able to return to the position following the 1835 general election after Peel and the Conservatives were unable to secure a majority:
Looking forward to this, especially as our senior research fellow @martinspychal.bsky.social was the series researcher.
'Materials of State' will be airing this week on Radio 4, made in association with the History of Parliament.
The series examines the artefacts and emblems that have shaped, and continue to shape, the British constitution.
You can catch the first episode today at 1:45pm:
buff.ly/1I5JVcE
The series examines the artefacts and emblems that have shaped, and continue to shape, the British constitution.
You can catch the first episode today at 1:45pm:
buff.ly/1I5JVcE
BBC Radio 4 - Materials of State, The Union Jack
David Cannadine explores the history of the Union Jack.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Looking forward to this, especially as our senior research fellow @martinspychal.bsky.social was the series researcher.
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#OTD 1883, the first by-election in England held under the rules of the 1883 Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act took place.
Dr Kathryn Rix explores the impact that the Act had on electioneering during the York by-election:
Dr Kathryn Rix explores the impact that the Act had on electioneering during the York by-election:
The impact of the 1883 Corrupt Practices Act: the York by-election - The History of Parliament
series on the 1883 Corrupt and Illegal Practice Act, Dr Kathryn Rix looks at its impact on electioneering, focusing on the November 1883 York by-election
historyofparliament.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
#OTD 1883, the first by-election in England held under the rules of the 1883 Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act took place.
Dr Kathryn Rix explores the impact that the Act had on electioneering during the York by-election:
Dr Kathryn Rix explores the impact that the Act had on electioneering during the York by-election:
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Stephen Farrell's @histparl.bsky.social and Stephen Ball's forthcoming @victoriancommons.bsky.social profiles of Rossmore mention his bagpiping. To Ball, it was evidence of
Rossmore's 'strong sense of Irishness'. Farrell's profile can be read here: www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-...
Rossmore's 'strong sense of Irishness'. Farrell's profile can be read here: www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-...
www.historyofparliamentonline.org
November 23, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Stephen Farrell's @histparl.bsky.social and Stephen Ball's forthcoming @victoriancommons.bsky.social profiles of Rossmore mention his bagpiping. To Ball, it was evidence of
Rossmore's 'strong sense of Irishness'. Farrell's profile can be read here: www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-...
Rossmore's 'strong sense of Irishness'. Farrell's profile can be read here: www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-...
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Yesterday I visited Monaghan County Museum for the first time since they moved the new Peace Campus last year. My favourite item exhibited was the bagpipes of William Henry Westenra, third Baron Rossmore, much about whom I have researched and written for my thesis.
November 23, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Yesterday I visited Monaghan County Museum for the first time since they moved the new Peace Campus last year. My favourite item exhibited was the bagpipes of William Henry Westenra, third Baron Rossmore, much about whom I have researched and written for my thesis.
Andrew Carew O’Dwyer, born #OnThisDay 1801, was an Irish barrister who became MP for Drogheda in 1832. Although he won the next election in 1835, he was unseated for failing to meet the property qualification then required of MPs. Find out more: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2018/02/22/m...
MP of the Month: Andrew Carew O’Dwyer (1801-1877)
Many of our recent posts have focused on the way barriers to the franchise were gradually removed in the 19th century, but it is worth noting that there were also many barriers to becoming a Victor…
victoriancommons.wordpress.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Andrew Carew O’Dwyer, born #OnThisDay 1801, was an Irish barrister who became MP for Drogheda in 1832. Although he won the next election in 1835, he was unseated for failing to meet the property qualification then required of MPs. Find out more: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2018/02/22/m...
William Tooke, MP for Truro, who was born #OnThisDay 1777, was the leading figure in the campaign to secure a royal charter for London University. Find out more about his efforts in our short article: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2019/08/30/m...
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 worke…
victoriancommons.wordpress.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:55 AM
William Tooke, MP for Truro, who was born #OnThisDay 1777, was the leading figure in the campaign to secure a royal charter for London University. Find out more about his efforts in our short article: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2019/08/30/m...
And we should add, before our @georgianlords.bsky.social colleagues beat us to it, that before it was used by the Victorian Commons, the building was home to the Lords!
This is an exciting find: the remains of the building used by the House of Commons as its temporary chamber between 1835 and 1851. If you want to know what that building looked like, see our short article: historyofparliament.com/2025/09/25/t...
November 21, 2025 at 6:36 PM
And we should add, before our @georgianlords.bsky.social colleagues beat us to it, that before it was used by the Victorian Commons, the building was home to the Lords!
This is an exciting find: the remains of the building used by the House of Commons as its temporary chamber between 1835 and 1851. If you want to know what that building looked like, see our short article: historyofparliament.com/2025/09/25/t...
November 21, 2025 at 6:19 PM
This is an exciting find: the remains of the building used by the House of Commons as its temporary chamber between 1835 and 1851. If you want to know what that building looked like, see our short article: historyofparliament.com/2025/09/25/t...
This may be of interest to some of our followers.
📢Call For Papers📢
Sociability & Political life
Marc Jaffré & I are organising a conference! We're asking: can there be politics without sociability? How have friendship, intimacy, socialising & informal attachments been central to political projects & movements?
Get your abstracts in by Feb 14th!
Sociability & Political life
Marc Jaffré & I are organising a conference! We're asking: can there be politics without sociability? How have friendship, intimacy, socialising & informal attachments been central to political projects & movements?
Get your abstracts in by Feb 14th!
November 21, 2025 at 4:54 PM
This may be of interest to some of our followers.
The timetable of the parliamentary day has long been the subject of debate. #OnThisDay 1837 Joseph Brotherton, MP for Salford, failed in one of his many attempts to limit sittings after midnight. Find out more about him in our post: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2021/10/27/i...
‘I shall persist’: Joseph Brotherton (1783-1857) and late hours in the Commons
Joseph Brotherton by Samuel William Reynolds Jr (1836) (C) NPG In 1832 the borough of Salford elected its first MP, who would represent the constituency for the next quarter-century. Described in 1…
victoriancommons.wordpress.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:39 PM
The timetable of the parliamentary day has long been the subject of debate. #OnThisDay 1837 Joseph Brotherton, MP for Salford, failed in one of his many attempts to limit sittings after midnight. Find out more about him in our post: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2021/10/27/i...
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With this years Ashes beginning in the early hours of this morning, we thought we'd point you in the direction of @TheVictCommons where they explore the link between cricket and the Victorian House of Commons
historyofparliament.com/2025/11/20/c...
historyofparliament.com/2025/11/20/c...
Cricket in the Commons: a Victorian First Eleven - The History of Parliament
With the 2025 Ashes between England and Australia getting underway this week, we have a cricketing themed post from our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project.
historyofparliament.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:38 AM
With this years Ashes beginning in the early hours of this morning, we thought we'd point you in the direction of @TheVictCommons where they explore the link between cricket and the Victorian House of Commons
historyofparliament.com/2025/11/20/c...
historyofparliament.com/2025/11/20/c...
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POV: you’ve been hiding under the Palace of Westminster for hundreds of years.
See what we uncovered during recent surveys of the Palace as we prepare for its restoration.
See what we uncovered during recent surveys of the Palace as we prepare for its restoration.
November 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
POV: you’ve been hiding under the Palace of Westminster for hundreds of years.
See what we uncovered during recent surveys of the Palace as we prepare for its restoration.
See what we uncovered during recent surveys of the Palace as we prepare for its restoration.
George Barrington, born #OnThisDay 1794, was the son-in-law of the Whig prime minister Earl Grey and was elected MP for Sunderland in 1832. However, his Commons career was curtailed by mental health issues, a subject explored here: thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2018/05/17/o...
'Of unsound mind'? MPs, mental health and the 1886 Lunacy (Vacating of Seats) Act - The History of Parliament
In 1886 Parliament passed the first piece of legislation dealing directly with the mental health of its members, the Lunacy (Vacating of Seats) Act
thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:39 AM
George Barrington, born #OnThisDay 1794, was the son-in-law of the Whig prime minister Earl Grey and was elected MP for Sunderland in 1832. However, his Commons career was curtailed by mental health issues, a subject explored here: thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2018/05/17/o...
Our #1832AtoZ continues with S for Scotland. There were 51 Scottish constituencies in the 1832-67 period, returning 53 MPs. This post explores some of the features of the Scottish electoral system: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/t...
The Scottish dimension (2)
Following on from the first blog in this series in January, this post focuses on the distinctive nature of the Scottish representative system before and after the 1832 Scottish Reform Act. Both the…
victoriancommons.wordpress.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Our #1832AtoZ continues with S for Scotland. There were 51 Scottish constituencies in the 1832-67 period, returning 53 MPs. This post explores some of the features of the Scottish electoral system: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/t...
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If you're interested in Scottish national identity, eighteenth-century fashion, and/or women in politics, you may be interested in the paper I'm presenting at the IHR Parliaments, Politics & People seminar next Tuesday. Best of all, it's online!
#eighteenthcentury #womenshistory #Scottishhistory
#eighteenthcentury #womenshistory #Scottishhistory
On 25 November, Dr Natalie Garrett will be speaking at the next IHR Parliaments, Politics & People Seminar, where they will be presenting on Jane, duchess of Gordon and the Romanticisation of Scottish Identity in London, c.1780-1812.
Find out more and how to attend below:
Find out more and how to attend below:
‘The Tartan Rage’: Fashion, High Society, and Scottish Identity in Eighteenth-Century London - The History of Parliament
The Tartan rage has at length reached Paris,’ declared the World in June 1787. Demand for tartan fabric and accessories had swept British high society earlier that year, with the Gazetteer and New…
historyofparliament.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:27 PM
If you're interested in Scottish national identity, eighteenth-century fashion, and/or women in politics, you may be interested in the paper I'm presenting at the IHR Parliaments, Politics & People seminar next Tuesday. Best of all, it's online!
#eighteenthcentury #womenshistory #Scottishhistory
#eighteenthcentury #womenshistory #Scottishhistory
It was rare for Parliament to be sitting in November during our 1832-68 period, but #OnThisDay 1847, following a general election held in July & August, a new Parliament was opened by royal commission (i.e. not by Queen Victoria in person): api.parliament.uk/historic-han...
api.parliament.uk
November 18, 2025 at 12:29 PM
It was rare for Parliament to be sitting in November during our 1832-68 period, but #OnThisDay 1847, following a general election held in July & August, a new Parliament was opened by royal commission (i.e. not by Queen Victoria in person): api.parliament.uk/historic-han...
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In November 1749, John London walked from his home to vote in the Westminster constituency parliamentary by-election.
As Dr Gillian Williamson explores, this provides the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election:
As Dr Gillian Williamson explores, this provides the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election:
John London: Britain's First Black Voter? - The History of Parliament
this election could serve as the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election - John London
historyofparliament.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM
In November 1749, John London walked from his home to vote in the Westminster constituency parliamentary by-election.
As Dr Gillian Williamson explores, this provides the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election:
As Dr Gillian Williamson explores, this provides the earliest known record of a Black person voting in a British parliamentary election:
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An @ihr.bsky.social Parliaments, Politics & People seminar on 3 December will be of interest to our members & followers:
Helen Wilson, 'Black and Political: Reconstructing Black Participation in British Politics, 1750-1850'
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
#Prosopography #PoliticalHistory
Helen Wilson, 'Black and Political: Reconstructing Black Participation in British Politics, 1750-1850'
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
#Prosopography #PoliticalHistory
Black and Political: Reconstructing Black Participation in British Politics, 1750-1850
www.history.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 11:58 AM
An @ihr.bsky.social Parliaments, Politics & People seminar on 3 December will be of interest to our members & followers:
Helen Wilson, 'Black and Political: Reconstructing Black Participation in British Politics, 1750-1850'
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
#Prosopography #PoliticalHistory
Helen Wilson, 'Black and Political: Reconstructing Black Participation in British Politics, 1750-1850'
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
#Prosopography #PoliticalHistory
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This #MapMonday let us take you back in time ⌛
We've just added first edition 6-inch to the mile Ordnance Survey maps of England and Wales to our website, published from the 1840s to 1880s. These maps are all from bound volumes.
Explore the maps > maps.nls.uk/additions/#188
We've just added first edition 6-inch to the mile Ordnance Survey maps of England and Wales to our website, published from the 1840s to 1880s. These maps are all from bound volumes.
Explore the maps > maps.nls.uk/additions/#188
November 17, 2025 at 9:00 AM
This #MapMonday let us take you back in time ⌛
We've just added first edition 6-inch to the mile Ordnance Survey maps of England and Wales to our website, published from the 1840s to 1880s. These maps are all from bound volumes.
Explore the maps > maps.nls.uk/additions/#188
We've just added first edition 6-inch to the mile Ordnance Survey maps of England and Wales to our website, published from the 1840s to 1880s. These maps are all from bound volumes.
Explore the maps > maps.nls.uk/additions/#188