Author: Stephen Roberts

History of Parliament Trust

A tribute to former Director of the History of Parliament Trust, Valerie Cromwell

In this blog our current Director, Dr Stephen Roberts and Editor of the Commons 1422-1504 project, Dr Linda Clark pay tribute to Valerie Cromwell, Director of the History of Parliament Trust between 1991 and 2001. It is with sadness that we relay the news of Valerie’s passing last week to our readers. We were saddened to hear of the death on 7 March of Valerie … Continue reading A tribute to former Director of the History of Parliament Trust, Valerie Cromwell

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Victorian, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Legal history, Modern, Welsh History

St. David’s Day: Parliament and the Welsh Language (Part Two)

Continuing from yesterday’s blog ‘St. David’s Day: Parliament and the Welsh Language (Part One)’, today Dr Stephen Roberts, the History of Parliament’s Director and editor of the Commons 1640-1660 Section, explains the educational reforms that affected the use of Welsh language in educational and legal structures in Wales in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the relationship between Parliament and the Welsh language in the … Continue reading St. David’s Day: Parliament and the Welsh Language (Part Two)

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Welsh History, 16th Century history, 17th Century history, Stuart, Tudor

St. David’s Day: Parliament and the Welsh Language (Part One)

In honour of St. David, the patron saint of Wales and St. David’s Day today, Dr Stephen Roberts, our Director, editor of the Commons 1640-1660 Section and proud Welshman, offers this first of two blogs outlining a brief history of the relationship between Parliament and the Welsh language. Today he explains the Tudor statute that banned Welsh language from law courts and public office and … Continue reading St. David’s Day: Parliament and the Welsh Language (Part One)

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17th Century history, Charles I, Charles II, Legal history, Stuart

The importance of royal pardons in Restoration England.

The UK is celebrating the centenary of the passing of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which allowed some women to vote for the first time. This has enlivened a debate relating to the posthumous pardon of Suffragettes convicted of offences during the campaign for ‘Votes for Women’. The History of Parliament’s Director and editor of the Commons 1640-1660 section, Dr Stephen Roberts explains … Continue reading The importance of royal pardons in Restoration England.

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History of Parliament Trust

Introducing…our new Director

Today’s blog is the first from Stephen Roberts in his new position as Director of the History of Parliament… It is a privilege to be taking over as Director of the History of Parliament, which has for many decades now been one of the UK’s leading historical research organisations, and which is currently engaged in a range of projects, some of long standing and others … Continue reading Introducing…our new Director

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James I to Restoration, Military history, Religious history

Unlikely Parliamentarians 5: William Neast, Civil War religious radical

This week is Parliament Week, a programme of events and activities that connects people across the UK with Parliament and democracy. To mark it, every day this week we are publishing a blog on ‘unlikely parliamentarians’  – the men and women across history who became parliamentarians only unexpectedly. Our final blog in the series is from Dr Stephen Roberts, editor of the Commons 1640-60 section. … Continue reading Unlikely Parliamentarians 5: William Neast, Civil War religious radical

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James I to Restoration, 17th Century history, Interregnum, Military history, Oliver Cromwell

Writing Parliamentary Biography, the Commons 1640-1660. Part 4: Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), the Parliament making, Parliament breaking MP

In the final of his four-part series, Dr Stephen Roberts, editor of the Commons 1640-60 section, discusses parliament’s most famous figure… John Pym, the subject of the last blog, was exceptional in his elusiveness despite his workaholism, his devotion to the Commons and his constant presence there. These qualities have made him a difficult subject for biographers, and only one conventional biography (as opposed to … Continue reading Writing Parliamentary Biography, the Commons 1640-1660. Part 4: Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), the Parliament making, Parliament breaking MP

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James I to Restoration, 17th Century history, Military history, Religious history, Stuart

Writing Parliamentary Biography, the Commons 1640-1660. Part 3: John Pym (1584-1643) the ubiquitous but invisible MP

In the third of a four-part series, Dr Stephen Roberts, editor of the Commons 1640-60 section, discusses writing the biography of a ‘workaholic’ political leader… In the last blog, I discussed Sir Simonds D’Ewes, whose compulsive autobiographical instinct has left us with a feast of materials about his own life and opinions, but who poses a challenge to the biographer wanting to move beyond D’Ewes’s … Continue reading Writing Parliamentary Biography, the Commons 1640-1660. Part 3: John Pym (1584-1643) the ubiquitous but invisible MP

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James I to Restoration, 17th Century history, Military history, Parliamentary Life, Religious history

Writing Parliamentary Biography. The Commons 1640-1660. Part 2: Sir Simonds D’Ewes (1602-50), the self-fashioning MP

In the second of a four-part series, Dr Stephen Roberts, editor of the Commons 1640-60 section, discusses the problems associated with judging the life of a prolific diarist… Simonds D’Ewes was born into a family recently settled in Suffolk but with roots in the Netherlands. He was the son and grandson of lawyers, and was himself put to the law at a very young age. … Continue reading Writing Parliamentary Biography. The Commons 1640-1660. Part 2: Sir Simonds D’Ewes (1602-50), the self-fashioning MP

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James I to Restoration, 17th Century history, Military history, Parliamentary Life, Stuart

Writing Parliamentary Biography, the Commons 1640-1660. Part 1: Methods

In the first of a four-part series, Dr Stephen Roberts, editor of the Commons 1640-60 section, discusses the History’s research method and how his section approaches writing hundreds of biographies of Civil War Parliamentarians… There must be more than one way of writing the biographies of MPs but in this Section of the History of Parliament, as in others, the life of every MP is … Continue reading Writing Parliamentary Biography, the Commons 1640-1660. Part 1: Methods

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