Category: LGBTQ+ History

19th Century history, Art, Fashion and Material Culture, LGBTQ+ History, Victorian, Victorian Commons

Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916): the life of a queer MP at the time of the Second Reform Act

Dr Martin Spychal introduces his series of articles on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), who was elected as MP for Sutherland in 1867. This is the first of five articles originally published on the Victorian Commons website between February 2020 and May 2021. Born into ‘the inner circle of English aristocratic life’, Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916) is best known as the likely inspiration for the hedonistic … Continue reading Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916): the life of a queer MP at the time of the Second Reform Act

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Victorian Commons, 19th Century history, Art, Fashion and Material Culture, LGBTQ+ History, Victorian

Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916): the social life of a queer MP at the time of the Second Reform Act

In the second article in his series on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), Dr Martin Spychal explores Gower’s London social life during his first year in Parliament, including a brief summer romance with the son of the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. One of the most privileged men in nineteenth-century Britain, Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), was returned to Parliament in May 1867, aged 21, for his … Continue reading Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916): the social life of a queer MP at the time of the Second Reform Act

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Victorian Commons, 19th Century history, LGBTQ+ History, Parliamentary Life, Victorian

The ‘beautiful boy’ of the Commons: Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916) and sexual identity in Parliament at the time of the Second Reform Act

In the third of his article series on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), Dr Martin Spychal explores Gower’s parliamentary reputation as the ‘beautiful boy’ of the Commons, and his increasing disaffection with conventional aristocratic society during the 1868 parliamentary session. In May 1868 the twenty-two-year-old MP for Sutherlandshire, Ronald Gower (1845-1916), made his maiden parliamentary speech. When reporting on the speech the Leeds Mercury shared some … Continue reading The ‘beautiful boy’ of the Commons: Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916) and sexual identity in Parliament at the time of the Second Reform Act

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Contemporary History, 20th century history, Health and Medicine, LGBTQ+ History, Modern, Oral history

HIV and Parliament: memories from our Oral History Project

For LGBT+ History Month, Dr Emma Peplow, Head of Contemporary History, uses the History of Parliament’s Oral History archive to reflect on the debates and experiences of HIV in Parliament during the 1980s. When the HIV/AIDs epidemic arrived in the UK in the early 1980s it was a frightening, confusing time. Little was known about this new disease, other than it appeared to be deadly to … Continue reading HIV and Parliament: memories from our Oral History Project

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LGBTQ+ History, 19th Century history, Legal history, Victorian, Victorian Commons

History of Parliament and Excavating Early Queer History

To mark LGBTQ+ History Month 2023, guest blogger Charles Upchurch, Professor of British history at Florida State University, explains how he used the History of Parliament project as a resource when researching his newest book, “Beyond the Law”: The Politics of Ending the Death Penalty for Sodomy in Britain. LGBTQ+ stories are often overlooked within parliamentary history, but Professor Upchurch utilised the History of Parliament … Continue reading History of Parliament and Excavating Early Queer History

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James I to Restoration, 17th Century history, LGBTQ+ History, Social history

Commemorating same-sex desire in early modern England

To mark LGBT History Month 2022, Dr Paul Hunneyball of our Lords 1558-1603 project considers a paradox in perceptions of same-sex relationships four hundred years ago… Very few declarations of same-sex love survive from early-17th-century England, and generally they occur only in private correspondence, such as that of James I and his favourite George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham. However, tucked away in central Cambridge … Continue reading Commemorating same-sex desire in early modern England

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Victorian Commons, 19th Century history, History of Parliament Trust, LGBTQ+ History, Victorian

New Podcast for LGBT+ History Month: Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916)

Based on his recent blog series on The Victorian Commons, this LGBT+ History Month Dr Martin Spychal sat down (virtually) with our public engagement team to discuss his research on the queer MP Lord Ronald Gower. We’ve made our 30 minute conversation available for you below. Martin has been researching Lord Ronald Gower as part of the History of Parliament’s Commons 1832-68 project and been … Continue reading New Podcast for LGBT+ History Month: Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916)

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Victorian Commons, 19th Century history, Constituencies, Elections, LGBTQ+ History, Local History, Scottish History, Victorian

A Highland canvass in a ‘pocket county’: Ronald Gower (1845-1916) and the 1867 Sutherland by-election

Continuing our series on Scotland and his series on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), Dr Martin Spychal, research fellow for the House of Commons 1832-1868 project, uses Gower’s diaries to provide some rare insights into mid-Victorian electioneering in the ‘pocket county’ of Sutherland. If there was a History of Parliament award for ‘constituency most under the thumb of an aristocratic patron’, the Highland county of Sutherland … Continue reading A Highland canvass in a ‘pocket county’: Ronald Gower (1845-1916) and the 1867 Sutherland by-election

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18th Century history, 17th Century history, 19th Century history, 20th century history, Art, Fashion and Material Culture, Buildings and Architecture, Conferences, Seminars and Events, Georgian Lords, James I to Restoration, LGBTQ+ History, Modern, Oral history, Resources and Publications, Women and Parliament

Exploring parliamentary history through art

Today’s blog contains details of the Art UK online exhibitions that our researchers have curated during lockdown… The History of Parliament’s researchers have been trying out the Curations tool recently launched by Art UK, which enables anyone to create a digital exhibition from the artworks on its site. With art galleries and museums currently closed, it is an excellent way to visit their collections online. … Continue reading Exploring parliamentary history through art

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Contemporary History, 20th century history, Legal history, LGBTQ+ History, Modern, Social history

Lesbians and the law: the Wolfenden Report and same-sex desire between women

Our final blog for LGBTQ+ History Month comes from Dr Caroline Derry, who has recently published a book on lesbianism and the criminal law. Here, Caroline will explore the significance of the report of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution to the legal and parliamentary status of lesbian sexuality… In 1958, Harford Montgomery Hyde MP asked the House of Commons, ‘If homosexual conduct between … Continue reading Lesbians and the law: the Wolfenden Report and same-sex desire between women

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