Died #OnThisDay 1899 Lord Mexborough, the last survivor of the pre-1832 House of Commons. As Viscount Pollington he had been elected for Gatton in 1831, despite not yet being 21, & he was later MP for Pontefract. There’s more on him in this blog: https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/live-long-and-prosper-longevity-among-nineteenth-century-mps/ #history #19thcentury #HistoryofParliament

190 years ago today was the opening day of the first Parliament elected under the terms of the 1832 Reform Act. William IV did not open Parliament in person, delegating this task to the Lords Commissioners. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1833/jan/29/opening-of-parliament The House of Commons assembled in its ‘dark, gloomy and badly ventilated chamber’ in the former St. Stephen’s Chapel. To find out more about this building, see our earlier blog: https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2021/01/25/like-herrings-in-a-barrel-the-chamber-of-the-house-of-commons-prior-to-1834/ #19thcentury #HistoryofParliament

Joseph Brotherton was Salford’s first MP, from 1832 until his death #onthisday 1857. An ‘ultra Liberal’, he opposed slavery, child labour & the death penalty, & was one of the founders of @vegsoc Find out more about him in our blog: https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2021/10/27/i-shall-persist-joseph-brotherton-1783-1857-and-late-hours-in-the-commons/ #legislatures #19thcentury #parliament #HistoryofParliament #histodons

Born #OnThisDay 1824 John Tomlinson Hibbert, Liberal MP for his native Oldham 1862-74, 1877-86, 1892-5. He was described by John Stuart Mill as ‘rather clever as well as careful in framing amendments’ to legislation. There’s more on him in our blog: https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2017/08/29/mp-of-the-month-john-tomlinson-hibbert-1824-1908/ #HistParl #HistoryofParliament #19thcentury #histdons #Oldham

Today we’re revisiting one of our MPs of the Month. William Hughes Hughes was MP for Oxford, 1830-7, where he spent over £70,000 on electioneering. Find out why he was described as ‘one of the most thoroughly unpopular of all the Members’ in our blog: https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/mp-of-the-month-william-hughes-hughes/ #HistParl #HistoryofParliament #MPs #19thcentury #histodons

Born #OnThisDay 1802 Charles Pelham Villiers, who holds the record for the longest-serving MP. He represented Wolverhampton from 1835 until his death in 1898. He was a prominent figure in the campaign against the corn laws and served as president of the poor law board, 1859-66. #HistParl #HistoryofParliament #19thcentury #histodons #longevity

We would like to wish all our followers and readers a Happy New Year! Before we return to our desks for 2023, here's our review of some of the research we shared on our blog in 2022: https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2023/01/02/happy-new-year-from-the-victorian-commons-6/ #HistParl #HistoryofParliament #19thcentury #histodons

Our last blog of 2022, from our research fellow Stephen Ball, looks at levels of parliamentary attendance and absence among 19th century MPs. Find out more here: https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2022/12/19/the-absentee-mp/ #19thcentury #history #histodons #HistoryofParliament #legislatures

Our last blog of 2022, from our research fellow Stephen Ball, looks at levels of parliamentary attendance and absence among 19th century MPs. Find out more here: https://victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2022/12/19/the-absentee-mp/ #19thcentury #history #histodons #HistoryofParliament #legislatures

@jdmccafferty Nayler was tried in the House of Commons, because the Lords, which had been the highest judicial body, had been abolished, raising the question of whether the Commons had inherited its judicial function.
#history #histodons #englishcivilwar #historyofparliament

Died #OnThisDay 1899, Charles Bennet, 6th Earl of Tankerville, the oldest peer in the House of Lords (aged 89). He had sat (as Viscount Ossulston) as a largely silent Conservative MP for Northumberland North, 1832-59. Image: NPG #19thcentury #histodons #HistoryofParliament

#OnThisDay 1783 it was the beginning of the end for the Fox-North ministry. Although the India bill had passed the Commons, the king made it clear that it should fail in the Lords.
On 16 December the government was defeated on a motion to adjourn. King 1 - Fox-North 0.
#histodons #HistoryofParliament

#OnThisDay 1783 it was the beginning of the end for the Fox-North ministry. Although the India bill had passed the Commons, the king made it clear that it should fail in the Lords.
On 16 December the government was defeated on a motion to adjourn. King 1 - Fox-North 0.
#histodons #HistoryofParliament

#OnThisDay 1688 Queen Mary and Prince James were spirited out of England and into exile.
https://thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/a-queen-in-isolation-mary-beatrice-of-modena/
#histodons #HistoryofParliament

#OnThisDay 1688 Queen Mary and Prince James were spirited out of England and into exile.
https://thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/a-queen-in-isolation-mary-beatrice-of-modena/
#histodons #HistoryofParliament

Warren Hastings, governor-general of Bengal and the penultimate man to be impeached by #Parliament was born #OnThisDay 1732.
Edmund Burke dubbed him 'the captain-general of iniquity'
#histodons #HistoryofParliament

Born #OnThisDay 1661 Robert Harley, earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer - the first true Prime Minister? In 1715 he was impeached and spent 2 years in the Tower before being acquitted.
#histodons #HistoryofParliament

Died #OnThisDay 1748 Charles Seymour, 'Proud' duke of Somerset. By the end of his life he was not quite the power he had been, one relative noting in 1744 he ‘eats like four and sleeps a lot'.
#histodons #HistoryofParliament

New on the #HistoryofParliament blog this morning: the WCs of the old Palace of Westminster:
https://thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2022/12/01/spending-a-penny-in-the-old-palace-of-westminster/
#histodons

#OnThisDay 1688 James II was thinking about safeguarding his dynasty. He ordered Lord Dartmouth to ferry the Prince of Wales over to France but Dartmouth refused and it was not until December that the queen and prince finally quit England.
#histodons #HistoryofParliament