UK Parliamentary Archives

UK Parliamentary Archives We're moving The National Archives. Our public search room is now closed but we offering a limited enquiry and copying service.

Visit our website to find out more. Our collections are being moved to The National Archives and are temporarily inaccessible. Our public search room is closed, but you can still browse our catalogue and view digital material and we will continue to share our treasures with you here.

The Garden Museum’s current exhibition the ‘Lost Gardens of London’ showcases many forgotten green spaces from botanical...
17/01/2025

The Garden Museum’s current exhibition the ‘Lost Gardens of London’ showcases many forgotten green spaces from botanical gardens to community allotments including the gardens of Burlington House. Here is a plan by Charles Barry of unexecuted plans for Burlington House.

155 years have passed since the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act made the statute book, but its seminal importance stil...
16/01/2025

155 years have passed since the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act made the statute book, but its seminal importance still resonates. For that reason, it would be remiss not to include its chief campaigner author Caroline Norton as a New Year Revolutionary.

Historical Warrior Queens tend to have revolutionary tendencies, so Boadicea or Boudicca is an obvious choice for the Ne...
15/01/2025

Historical Warrior Queens tend to have revolutionary tendencies, so Boadicea or Boudicca is an obvious choice for the New Year Revolutionaries draft. Back in 1834 Parliament staged a Prize Cartoon/Fresco Competition & she was depicted haranguing the Iceni.

Fans of pragmatism in politics may wish to cast an eye over the latest blog on our ‘Inside the Act Room’ platform profil...
15/01/2025

Fans of pragmatism in politics may wish to cast an eye over the latest blog on our ‘Inside the Act Room’ platform profiling Lord Peter Carrington titled ‘The Pragmatic Peer’. Highlighting his multi-faceted political career across many spheres of influence. https://ow.ly/yofO50UFRSt

Simple take out the word resolutions replace with revolutionaries & we’ve got a New Year Themed Week! Starting with the ...
14/01/2025

Simple take out the word resolutions replace with revolutionaries & we’ve got a New Year Themed Week! Starting with the 1834 ‘Tolpuddle Martyrs’ whose severe sentencing for forming a farm-workers society resulted in their case being debated in the Commons.

This month’s Hall of Fame is Catherine Parr, considered one of the first female published authors. Her life as Henry VII...
13/01/2025

This month’s Hall of Fame is Catherine Parr, considered one of the first female published authors. Her life as Henry VIII’s sixth wife was portrayed in the recent film Firebrand. This House of Commons journal note from 1553 regards Henry’s marriage to Parr.

Barbie dolls come in several guises as the Design Museum exhibition on the phenomenon surrounding her has shown. The cos...
10/01/2025

Barbie dolls come in several guises as the Design Museum exhibition on the phenomenon surrounding her has shown. The cosmonaut version drew comparison with Valentina Tereshkova the first woman in space who was granted a special House of Commons reception back in 1964. Design Museum

The ‘Sherlock & Co’ podcast re-imagines the classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries, re-telling them as a true crime podcast n...
09/01/2025

The ‘Sherlock & Co’ podcast re-imagines the classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries, re-telling them as a true crime podcast narrated by Dr John Watson. From our collection, this letter from Arthur Conan Doyle, dated 1926, highlights the author’s interest in spiritualism.

The video game Democracy 4, released last year, allows you to play the role of Prime Minister, manage your own political...
08/01/2025

The video game Democracy 4, released last year, allows you to play the role of Prime Minister, manage your own political party and run for elections. From our collections, a Conservative Party election pamphlet from the 1955 General Election.

Coming soon on the BBC is the 1920s based drama ‘Dopegirls’ dramatized from Marek Kohn’s novel that explores the period’...
07/01/2025

Coming soon on the BBC is the 1920s based drama ‘Dopegirls’ dramatized from Marek Kohn’s novel that explores the period’s dark underbelly most notably the usage of recreational drugs amongst the ‘Bright Young Things’. Which Parliament tried to quell with this 1928 Order. BBC

In January 1644, during the height of the English Civil War, Queen Henrietta Maria was charged with high treason. Later ...
06/01/2025

In January 1644, during the height of the English Civil War, Queen Henrietta Maria was charged with high treason. Later that same year she left England, seeking refuge in France with her family. Here is the document with the articles of the charge against her.

It’s the return of Random Friday and the return to school after the holidays. William Leveson-Gower was a clerk in the H...
03/01/2025

It’s the return of Random Friday and the return to school after the holidays. William Leveson-Gower was a clerk in the House of Lords in 1908, these documents are from his Eton school days: Mathematical class divisions and a Latin exercise marked up with red pen.

The rule-breaking all-male Swan Lake by Matthew Bourne returns for its 30th anniversary, it was first performed at Sadle...
02/01/2025

The rule-breaking all-male Swan Lake by Matthew Bourne returns for its 30th anniversary, it was first performed at Sadler’s Wells in 1995. Here are some signed photographs of ballerina Margot Fonteyn, who performed Swan Lake with Sadler’s Wells many times.

2025 will see Bradford celebrating their ‘City of Culture’ year following in the footsteps of recent recipients Coventry...
01/01/2025

2025 will see Bradford celebrating their ‘City of Culture’ year following in the footsteps of recent recipients Coventry & Hull. To mark the occasion from our collections this 1642 Protestation Return for Thornton a place familiar with many a Bronte sisters’ expert. Bradford 2025

Staying in or going out is the big New Year’s Eve dilemma! If you are sofa bound tonight, then a good box set recommenda...
31/12/2024

Staying in or going out is the big New Year’s Eve dilemma! If you are sofa bound tonight, then a good box set recommendation may be needed. Let us suggest ‘Renegade Nell’ a Jacobite drama set in the era when James Stuart made this infamous 1714 ‘Pretender Declaration’. Disney+

Esteemed cakemakers have yet to make our Hall of Fame. To break the mold, we’ve inducted Eddie Spence who the Royal Fami...
30/12/2024

Esteemed cakemakers have yet to make our Hall of Fame. To break the mold, we’ve inducted Eddie Spence who the Royal Family turned to when they required a special occasion cake. This included various weddings like Princess Margaret’s from 1960 (see invite below).

The Charles Dickens Museum exhibition ‘Faithful Companions’ explores the variety of pets owned by Dickens and animals fe...
27/12/2024

The Charles Dickens Museum exhibition ‘Faithful Companions’ explores the variety of pets owned by Dickens and animals featured in his books. Here is some of our dog documentation, the puppy pedigree for the dog of the former Clerk of the Parliaments, Sir Henry Badeley.

The Boxing Day Dip is a very refreshing tradition. A charity event in which people take a dip in the freezing sea on Box...
26/12/2024

The Boxing Day Dip is a very refreshing tradition. A charity event in which people take a dip in the freezing sea on Boxing Day. This document in our collection is the 1545 Act about the maintenance of Scarborough Pier.

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SW1A0PW

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