Author: Paul Seaward

Stuart, 18th Century history, Minority Ethnic History, Queen Anne, Social history

Black History Month: “Pompey, Colonel Hill’s black”, and the politics of footmen in Queen Anne’s London

October is Black History Month in the UK and today we hear from Dr Paul Seaward, our former Director and British Academy/ Wolfson Foundation Research Professor about the politics of footmen and the amateur political ambition of a black servant… In November 1710, the satirist, clergyman and Tory activist Jonathan Swift went to Westminster to see the opening of Parliament following his party’s success in … Continue reading Black History Month: “Pompey, Colonel Hill’s black”, and the politics of footmen in Queen Anne’s London

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Modern, 18th Century history, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Electoral Reform, History of Parliament Trust, Women and Parliament

Voice and Vote: Celebrating 100 Years of Votes for Women – a guidebook

Dr Paul Seaward is one of the editors of the “Voice & Vote guidebook” to accompany the UK Parliament Vote 100 project‘s landmark exhibition in Westminster Hall. In today’s blog he explains the contents of the book, who contributed to it and where you can get one… Last week we were delighted to celebrate with the curators of the wonderful Voice and Vote exhibition in Westminster … Continue reading Voice and Vote: Celebrating 100 Years of Votes for Women – a guidebook

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18th Century history, Buildings and Architecture, Georgian, Parliamentary Life, Women and Parliament

Duchesses in the Gallery: women watching the eighteenth-century House of Commons

This month’s installment of our ‘Women and Parliament’ blog series comes from the HPT’s Dr Paul Seaward, who is currently holder of a British Academy / Wolfson Foundation Research Professorship for his project, Reformation to Referendum: Writing a New History of Parliament. You can read more about the project, which involves looking at Parliament’s past in a very different way, here . In this blog, Paul … Continue reading Duchesses in the Gallery: women watching the eighteenth-century House of Commons

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Charles II, James II

Clarendon’s impeachment

Impeachment is a procedure rarely used in the British Parliament these days, but it is a procedure of historic importance, as discussed in our Director’s Blog here and in our post on its use in the early 17th century here. In today’s post our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, discusses the impeachment of the earl of Clarendon, 350 years ago… The impeachment of the earl of … Continue reading Clarendon’s impeachment

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Stuart, 17th Century history, Charles II, Diplomacy and International Relations, Military history

The Dismissal of Clarendon

350 years ago this month, the Lord Chancellor, Edward Hyde, earl of Clarendon, was dismissed following the disaster on the Medway. Our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, tells us more… On the evening of 30th August 1667 one of the two secretaries of state, Sir William Morrice, was sent by the King to the lord chancellor, Edward Hyde, earl of Clarendon in his grand, newly-completed palace … Continue reading The Dismissal of Clarendon

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Social history, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Buildings and Architecture, Modern

Big Ben and the British

With Big Ben – possibly – due to fall silent next week, our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, discusses the history of the famous bell… The reaction in some quarters to the news that Big Ben will cease to strike from noon on Monday 21 August until 2021 (the Daily Telegraph says there is a ‘backlash’; the Mail says it’s a ‘death knell for common sense’) … Continue reading Big Ben and the British

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Stuart, 17th Century history, Charles II, Diplomacy and International Relations, Military history

Chatham and the failure of English Politics

350 years ago this week the British navy suffered a disaster after the Dutch Raid on the Medway. In this blog our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, discusses the parliamentary background to one of the worst defeats in British naval history…  On 12 June 1667, the leading ships of a Dutch fleet forced their way through the chain barring access to the Medway at Gillingham, and … Continue reading Chatham and the failure of English Politics

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Victorian, 19th Century history, Irish History, Religious history, William Ewart Gladstone

The Prime Minister in the House of Lords: Gladstone and the Irish Church bill, 1869

For the past month the government’s Brexit bill has been back and forth both Houses of Parliament, re-awakening old debates on the roles of the Commons and Lords. Here our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, discusses a similar controversial bill 150 years ago… Theresa May’s remarkable appearance in the House of Lords on 20 February, at the beginning of the debate on the bill triggering the … Continue reading The Prime Minister in the House of Lords: Gladstone and the Irish Church bill, 1869

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Georgian, 18th Century history, Elections, Parliamentary Life

Edmund Burke and the Brexit debates

For the second week in a row, parliamentary business is dominated by the government’s ‘Brexit bill’. For many, this bill rekindles the dilemma – put so famously by Edmund Burke – of what an MP should do when their opinion differs from that of their constituents; an issue discussed here by our Director, Dr Paul Seaward… It didn’t take long for Edmund Burke to be … Continue reading Edmund Burke and the Brexit debates

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Conferences, Seminars and Events, 18th Century history, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Buildings and Architecture, Georgian, Modern, Victorian

Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Paul Seaward, ‘Do our buildings shape us’?

Last month our Director, Dr Paul Seaward, spoke at our ‘Parliaments, politics and people’ seminar on ‘Do our buildings shape us? On oblongs, hemicycles, and the style of British politics.’ Here he reports back on his paper… We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us. Having dwelt and served for more than 40 years in the late Chamber, and having derived fiery great … Continue reading Parliaments, Politics and People seminar: Paul Seaward, ‘Do our buildings shape us’?

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