In this guest article, Dr Caroline Shenton, author of ‘The Day Parliament Burned Down‘ and ‘Mr Barry’s War: Rebuilding the Houses of Parliament after the Great Fire of 1834‘, describes the dramatic events that took place at the Palace of Westminster on 16 October 1834. By the late Georgian period, the buildings of the Palace of Westminster had become an accident waiting to happen. The rambling … Continue reading The Westminster Fire of 1834
As part of our series on parliamentary buildings, Dr Kathryn Rix of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project looks at the temporary chamber used by the House of Commons from 1835 until 1851, after its previous chamber was destroyed by fire in October 1834. The devastating fire at the Palace of Westminster on 16 October 1834 made the House of Commons chamber in the former … Continue reading ‘A place of business’: the temporary chamber of the House of Commons, 1835-1851
On the evening of the 10/11 May 1941 the House of Commons Chamber was destroyed during the Blitz. In today’s blog, 80 years on, our Public Engagement Assistant Connie Jeffery explores the event and how Parliament rebuilt and recovered from the destruction… Like much of the United Kingdom’s home front, Westminster was no stranger to the effects of the Second World War. Parliament’s recognisable home … Continue reading ‘London’s Latest Ordeal’: the Blitz and rebuilding of the House of Commons Chamber
Ahead of next Tuesday’s Virtual IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Dr Robin Eagles and Dr Kathryn Rix, of the History of Parliament. On 4 May 2021, between 5.15 p.m. and 6.30 p.m., they will each be giving a 15 minute presentation, followed by a joint Q & A session, looking at adaptations to parliamentary architecture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Details … Continue reading Adapting the chambers of Parliament: from the galleries of the 18th-century Lords to the division lobbies of the 19th-century Commons
In May 2018, Dr Elizabeth Biggs and Dr Elizabeth Hallam Smith introduced the IHR Parliaments, Politics and People seminar to the early history of St Stephen’s cloister, Westminster, presenting recent findings from their research project (funded by the Leverhulme Trust, and conducted in association with the Houses of Parliament and the University of York). In June this year, we welcomed Elizabeth Hallam Smith back to … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People seminar – The ‘Gothic slum’: MPs and St Stephen’s Cloisters, 1852-2017
Earlier this year the History published ‘The Story of Parliament: Celebrating 750 years of parliament in Britain’ to mark the anniversary of Simon de Montfort’s parliament in 1265. The book is a brief introduction to the full 750 years of parliamentary history, aimed at the general reader, and available to purchase from the Houses of Parliament bookshop – a great Christmas present for the parliamentary … Continue reading The ‘Story of Parliament’: Parliament and the press
Today in 1834 a huge fire swept through the old Palace of Westminster, destroying most of the medieval buildings. Caroline Shenton, of the Parliamentary Archives at Westminster and author of ‘The Day Parliament Burned Down’, has written a new article for the ‘Explore’ section of our website to mark the anniversary. Here is an extract from her article on the events of that dramatic night: … Continue reading Burning the House down: The Fire of 1834
Dr Kathryn Rix, Assistant Editor of the History’s Commons, 1832-68 project and one of the Victorian Commons bloggers, reports back from the second ‘Parliament, Politics and People’ seminar of the term, given by Caroline Shenton earlier this week. The ‘Parliament, Politics and People’ seminar at the Institute of Historical Research recently heard an extremely interesting talk from Caroline Shenton of the Parliamentary Archives on ‘The … Continue reading Parliament, Politics and People Seminar: Caroline Shenton
