‘Had she been a man, she would have been the leader of a party’: Harriet Grote (1792-1878), radicalism and Parliament, 1820-41

In the first of his articles on Harriet Grote (1792-1878), our research fellow Dr Martin Spychal, explores Harriet’s early life, her emergence as a central figure among London’s intellectual radicals during the 1820s and her arrival on the Westminster political scene during the reform crisis of 1830-32… Harriet Grote, née Lewin, grew up in the comfortable surrounds of Ridgeway Castle near Southampton, which her father, … Continue reading ‘Had she been a man, she would have been the leader of a party’: Harriet Grote (1792-1878), radicalism and Parliament, 1820-41

The ups and downs of a London election: examining London poll books

As pollsters look for constituencies across the country to act as representatives of how the wider nation may vote in the upcoming election, in the 18th century you might have looked to the capital city. Here Dr Robin Eagles explores how the City of London voted in two key elections either side of George I’s accession to the throne, as part of our Georgian Elections … Continue reading The ups and downs of a London election: examining London poll books

‘The Downe-fall of Dagon’: the post-Reformation campaign against Cheapside Cross

The recent trend of attacks on statues with uncomfortable moral or historical associations is nothing new; Dr Paul Hunneyball of our Lords 1558-1603 project considers the parallels with early modern English iconoclasm… In November 1290 the queen consort, Eleanor of Castile, died in Nottinghamshire. Her grief-stricken husband, Edward I, subsequently constructed 12 stone monuments, the so-called Eleanor crosses, along the route of her funeral procession … Continue reading ‘The Downe-fall of Dagon’: the post-Reformation campaign against Cheapside Cross

Sex, (almost) in the city: Southwark – a constituency of contrasts

Continuing our collaborative local history blog series, this month we are exploring the constituency of Southwark. In the first of two blogs, today Dr Hannes Kleineke, editor of our Commons 1461-1504 project, discusses the diverse nature of the constituency’s medieval residents. In the present day, Borough Market, served by Borough Station on the London Underground’s Northern Line, is a much loved destination for the food … Continue reading Sex, (almost) in the city: Southwark – a constituency of contrasts

An MP and an Epidemic in Civil War London

As we face challenges unfamiliar in modern times, our director, Dr Stephen Roberts, looks back at one parliamentary diarist’s response to disease in the community around him. Sir Simonds D’Ewes (1602-50) is now best known for his parliamentary journal. MP for the Suffolk borough of Sudbury, he entered the House of Commons in November 1640 and kept up a diary in English from day one. … Continue reading An MP and an Epidemic in Civil War London

London 1264: from Magna Carta to Montfort’s Parliament

As part of our series on Magna Carta and Simon de Montfort’s parliament, Ian Stone, a Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, discusses how a recent discovery among the records of the Corporation of London shows just how tightly bound the citizens of London had become to Simon de Montfort’s regime in advance of Montfort’s famous parliament of 1265… In December 1264 … Continue reading London 1264: from Magna Carta to Montfort’s Parliament