Category: Military history

Georgian, 18th Century history, Diplomacy and International Relations, Frederick North, 2nd earl of Guilford, George III, Georgian Lords, Military history, Parties

From bills to bullets: Spring 1775 and the approach to war in America

A recent article in this series [Background to the American Revolution] looked at the debates in the House of Lords in early February 1775 on a bill for conciliation with the American colonies. After its rejection the imperial crisis continued to occupy the House’s attention. In the latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Charles Littleton considers the debates and divisions occasioned by the addresses, … Continue reading From bills to bullets: Spring 1775 and the approach to war in America

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Modern, 20th century history, Conferences, Seminars and Events, Military history, Welsh History

The Recording Angel and the expression of English Welsh identities during the First World War

Ahead of next Tuesday’s Parliaments, Politics and People seminar, we hear from Professor Wendy Ugolini of the University of Edinburgh. On 3 June she will discuss The Recording Angel and the expression of English Welsh identities during the First World War. The seminar takes place on 3 June 2025, between 5:30 and 6.30 p.m. It is fully ‘hybrid’, which means you can attend either in-person … Continue reading The Recording Angel and the expression of English Welsh identities during the First World War

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The Commons in the Wars of the Roses, 15th Century History, Local History, Military history, Richard III

A Yorkist Family during the Wars of the Roses: the Devereuxs of Weobley in Herefordshire

Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the fortunes of one particularly loyal Yorkist family during the Wars of the Roses. For leading landowning families ready to commit themselves to one side or the other, the Wars of the Roses offered both hazard and opportunity. In terms of the latter, that commitment needed to be whole-hearted, but not necessarily consistent. So frequent were the … Continue reading A Yorkist Family during the Wars of the Roses: the Devereuxs of Weobley in Herefordshire

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The Commons in the Wars of the Roses, 15th Century History, Local History, Medieval, Military history

The Making of a Marcher Town: Ludlow and the Wars of the Roses

Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the crucial role of the Shropshire town of Ludlow during the Wars of the Roses. Political geography ensured that the town of Ludlow would, for good or ill, play some part in the great civil conflict that began when its lord, Richard, duke of York, moved into active opposition to the government of his cousin, Henry VI. … Continue reading The Making of a Marcher Town: Ludlow and the Wars of the Roses

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Scottish History, 17th Century history, 18th Century history, Diplomacy and International Relations, Factions, George III, Georgian, Georgian Lords, James II, Military history, Religious history, William Pitt the Younger

The Last of the Jacobites: Henry Benedict

Henry Benedict, Cardinal York (1725-1807), born 300 years ago this March, was the last member of the royal family to take an active role in a papal Conclave, when he participated in the election of Pope Pius VII at Venice in 1800. Dr Robin Eagles investigates how he found himself in that position… On 6 March 1725, Pope Benedict XIII (1724-30) was roused from a … Continue reading The Last of the Jacobites: Henry Benedict

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Georgian, 18th Century history, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Diplomacy and International Relations, Frederick North, 2nd earl of Guilford, George Grenville, Georgian Lords, Military history, William Pitt the Elder

Background to the American Revolution

As part of a new infrequent series on the American Revolution and its connection to Parliament, Dr Robin Eagles explores the immediate background to the Revolution, and early Parliamentary debates surrounding it in February 1775. At the beginning of 1775, pretty much every British politician agreed that something needed to be done about America, with many eager to find a way to reconcile both parties … Continue reading Background to the American Revolution

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Portrait of a young man with dark hair wearing 18th-century clothing, a dark coat and a buff waistcoat
History of Parliament Trust, 18th Century history, Elections, Factions, George III, Georgian, Georgian Lords, Military history, Parties, Scottish History, Social history

Robert Burns in Edinburgh: peers, patrons, and politics

In the wake of Burns Night, it is worth considering how the patronage of a small number of Scottish nobles helped Robert Burns become established as the national bard. In his latest piece for the Georgian Lords, Dr Charles Littleton, considers the important role played by a clutch of elite Scots families. Burns first published his Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, in Kilmarnock in … Continue reading Robert Burns in Edinburgh: peers, patrons, and politics

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The Commons in the Wars of the Roses, 15th Century History, Buildings and Architecture, Henry VI, Local History, Medieval, Military history, Social history

The town of Shrewsbury and the Wars of the Roses: The campaigns of 1459-61

Dr Simon Payling, of our Commons 1461-1504 section, explores the political allegiance of the Shropshire town of Shrewsbury during the Wars of the Roses. While, during the Wars of the Roses, the political allegiances of individual noblemen are relatively easy to determine, those of individual towns are generally obscured. This is not surprising, for the notion of the corporate allegiance of a town is a … Continue reading The town of Shrewsbury and the Wars of the Roses: The campaigns of 1459-61

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Revolutionary Stuart Parliaments, 17th Century history, Local History, Military history, Religious history, Social history, Stuart

Lord Saye and Sele and the Battle for Oxford

In our first ‘Revolutionary Stuart Parliaments‘ article of 2025, Editor of the 1640-60 House of Lords section, Dr David Scott, considers the leading parliamentarian peer, Viscount Saye and Sele, and his relationship with the archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. ‘The Warre was begun in our streets before the King or Parliament had any Armies’ concluded the renowned church leader Richard Baxter about the outbreak of … Continue reading Lord Saye and Sele and the Battle for Oxford

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Medieval, 15th Century History, Henry VII, Local History, Military history

Unrest in the West: The Perkin Warbeck Conspiracy

On this day, 1499, Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the English throne, was hanged for treason, bringing an end to one of the most significant threats to Henry VII’s reign. Dr Hannes Kleineke, editor of our House of Commons 1461-1504 section, recounts the story of the Warbeck Conspiracy. Some three years after Lambert Simnel had taken up his post as Henry VII’s kitchen boy, another … Continue reading Unrest in the West: The Perkin Warbeck Conspiracy

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