18th Century history
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‘Why not you?’ Sir John Cust, reluctant Speaker of the House of Commons
It is one of Westminster’s many traditions that, when an MP is elected to the role of Speaker of the…
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The true premier? Charles Spencer, 3rd earl of Sunderland
300 years ago, on 19 April 1722, Charles Spencer, 3rd earl of Sunderland, Walpole’s rival for the premiership, died following…
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After the Levellers: On the Non-Mysterious Disappearance of Parliamentary Reform in England
In our latest blog we’re returning to the ‘Recovering Europe’s Parliamentary Culture, 1500-1700’ project. Since late September, we’ve been working with the University of…
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Double Dutch: two Dutch courtiers and the British dynasties they founded
In this latest post for the Georgian Lords, Dr Charles Littleton considers the histories of two Dutch families who went…
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The Earl of Aberdeen and the Scottish Peerage By-election of 1721
With two by-elections to the Commons on the horizon, in the latest blog for the Georgian Lords, Dr Stuart Handley…
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Whispers on a landscape – Palatine migration to England, Ireland and beyond
We are delighted to welcome a guest blog from Claire McCormick, a PhD student at the University of Limerick, working…
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From Chicken House to Palace: 10 Downing Street in the 18th century
In February 1742, Sir Robert Walpole, newly ennobled as earl of Orford quit 10 Downing Street for the last time.…
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The will of the people? The Middlesex elections of 1769
250 years ago, in April 1769, the electors of Middlesex went to the polls: the third by-election they had experienced…