Abbott, Boateng & Grant – The First Black MPs By the mid-eighties, the UK had a growing diverse population, especially in various big cities. Yet at the time there were no Black or Ethnic Minorities elected representatives in the Palace …
Fifty years ago, this summer, Jamaica along with Trinidad & Tobago became the first Caribbean countries to achieve complete colonial freedom from Britain. In this blog Richard Ward, Assistant Archives Officer, will be focusing on ten factors that greatly defined …
Anniversaries come thick and fast in the world of Archives. Way in advance the dates are pencilled in the calendar for future reference. Some will be marked on our social media platforms; others have a blog uploaded while a select …
The House of Commons Speaker is a significant role within parliament that began in the 14th century and carries on to modern day. Katherine Emery, Assistant Archives Officer, will examine how the responsibilities of the Speaker have changed over time. …
Let’s go back to the summer of 1843 when the Palace of Westminster staged a Prize Cartoon Competition. The brainchild of the Fine Arts Commission that everyone was talking about. Using original prints from our collections Richard Ward, Assistant Archives …
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs National Portrait Gallery Twenty years ago, this summer, the great and good of Britain’s cartooning community gathered in Westminster Hall for the grand opening of a new Parliament exhibition titled Low: The 20th Century’s Greatest Cartoonist. …
When Edward Shackleton was ten years old, his father, the explorer Ernest Shackleton, died while on a voyage in the South Atlantic. Edward Shackleton was inspired by his father to become an adventurer himself, and led expeditions to Malaysia and …
On Friday 2 April 1982, Argentinian forces landed on the Falkland Islands, a British territory, and occupied the islands. This crisis led to an emergency Saturday sitting called for both the House of Commons and House of Lords the following …
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the inaugural FA Cup competition, first won by the now extinct Wanderers FC. It may come as a surprise that amongst our varied collections there can be found a record or two relating …
Eighty years have passed since the soothing sound of By the Sleeping Lagoon was first heard across our airwaves as the theme tune to the debut episode of BBC Radio Four’s Desert Island Discs. A multitude of MPs and Peers …
