In researching the careers of MPs who sat in the Commons between 1832 and 1868, and the electoral histories of the constituencies they represented, we make extensive use of online resources. On this page we have compiled a short guide with links to some of the websites and other resources we use that are free to access.
History of Parliament Research Hub: This is the main History of Parliament site, providing access to all the material published to date, including the House of Commons, 1820-32 volumes. This contains biographies of MPs, studies of constituencies and the ‘survey’ material from the introduction to the 1820-32 project. For details of how to access the 1832-68 volumes (in preparation) click here.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography [often free to access through local libraries]: This contains over 63,000 biographies of major figures in Britain’s history.
Australian Dictionary of Biography: This provides biographies of significant figures in Australia’s history, including British politicians with Australian interests and connections.
Canadian Dictionary of Biography: This provides biographies of significant figures in Canada’s history, including British politicians with Canadian interests and connections.
Dictionary of Irish Biography: This provides biographies of significant figures in Ireland’s history.
New Zealand Dictionary of Biography: This provides biographies of significant figures in New Zealand’s history, including British politicians with New Zealand interests and connections.
Welsh Biography online: This provides biographies of significant figures in Welsh history.
Dod’s parliamentary companion (for 1847, 1852, 1854-9) : These are the 19th century volumes available online of Dod’s parliamentary companion, an annual publication from 1833 which gives very brief biographies of MPs and peers.
Acts of Parliament
- For an overview of available resources, see http://statutes.org.uk/site/collections/british-and-irish/
- To access the full text of Acts of Parliament by year, see http://statutes.org.uk/site/collections/british-and-irish/chronological/
- For chronological tables of Local Acts http://www.legislation.gov.uk/changes/chron-tables/local
- For chronological tables of Private and Personal Acts http://www.legislation.gov.uk/changes/chron-tables/private
Commons Journals online
The Commons Journals provide a daily record of proceedings in Parliament, but do not record the content of parliamentary debates. For Commons Journals from 1835, see http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmjournal.htm
Details of how to access Commons Journals up to 1834 can be found here.
Hansard
Hansard provides a record of what was said in parliamentary debates. There are several ways to access Hansard online. For the 1832-68 period there are four volumes of Hansard which are missing from these online versions (vols. 43 (May-July 1838), 74 (Apr.-May 1844), 106 (June-July 1849) and 112 (June-July 1850). There is also some information missing from online versions of vol. 184 (June-Aug. 1866).
- Historic Hansard (This replicates the data previously provided by the Hansard Millbank site, although not all of the search functions work as they used to)
- Hansard (via parliament.uk) (Parliament’s website provides access to historic and current Hansard debates)
Parliamentary Archives
The Parliamentary Archives collection was relocated to The National Archives at Kew in 2025. However, the UK Parliament website contains lots of infomation on how to search their historical parliamentary records, as well as the other resources housed within the Parliamentary estate.
UK Parliamentary Papers (Proquest)
These papers, which include Hansard, reports of select committees and royal commissions, petitions and other parliamentary records, are not free to access online but are available via this subscription site.
Army Lists: provide lists of those who served as officers in the army.
British History Online: This site provides a wide range of 19th and 20th century local history material. We find Samuel Lewis’s topographical dictionaries very useful, as well as the publications of the Victoria County History.
Gentleman’s Magazine: Particularly useful for obituaries of 19th century figures.
Haydn’s Book of Dignities: This is a reference work with the names of people holding official positions in government and numerous other institutions.
London Gazette: This is an official public record and contains material on appointments to a range of positions, including military and local governance roles, as well as the award of honours and titles. It also contains information on business partnerships, applications for patents and bankruptcies.
Proceedings of the Old Bailey: This contains searchable records of 197,752 trials held at London’s central criminal court.
Queen Victoria’s Journals: This provides access to four different versions of Queen Victoria’s journals.
Victorian Research Web: Provides many useful resources for researchers on 19th century British History, including this helpful guide to 19th century periodicals available on open access.
Welsh Newspapers Online : This provides access to 15 million Welsh newspaper articles, in English and in Welsh.
Historical Directories: This contains trade and local directories for England and Wales from the 1760s to the 1910s.
Legacies of British Slavery: This contains a database with biographical entries on British slave-owners in the Caribbean, Mauritius and the Cape.
Church of England Clergy: This database provides summaries of the careers of clergymen in the Church of England between 1540 and 1835.
Royal Navy Officers: Among the numerous naval records on this site is a list of all commissioned officers in command of a Royal Navy vessel between 1840 and 1880.
Cambridge University Alumni Database: This reference work contains records of former students at Cambridge University.
Oxford University Alumni (digitised version of printed volumes): This reference work contains records of former students at Oxford University.
Records of Inns of Court
These records relate to those who studied for and became members of the legal profession.
Lost Country Houses : This website looks at country houses which have been demolished and can be helpful in tracking down the former homes of our MPs.
Landed families: This website contains numerous articles on landed families in Britain and Ireland and their residences.
Vision of Britain: This website includes maps and other historical data about places across Britain.
National Library of Scotland : This is an excellent resource for maps.
Land ownership details, J. Bateman, The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland (1883): Published in 1883, this provides an alphabetical list of those owning more than 2,000 acres in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.