BROADCASTING BIG BEN
This blog article was written by Nicole Hartland, Archive Assistant (Graduate Trainee). The sound of Big Ben is iconic. Big Ben (rings the note of E) and the four quarter bells (ring G sharp, F sharp, E, and B) sound …
UK Parliament
Baron Learie Constantine
Ten Things you need to know about the first Black Parliamentarian Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial National Portrait Gallery This article was written by Richard Ward, Assistant Archives Officer. Warning: This article uses contemporary quotes which contain offensive language that some …
TOTTENHAM’S OWN: BERNIE GRANT MP
This blog was written by Richard Ward, Assistant Archives Officer. Sometimes the revolution is televised. Way past the midnight hour on June 12th, 1987, the BBC cameras were in place at Haringey Town Hall to see Bernie Grant become MP …
The Queen’s Maid: Louisa Demont and the Queen Caroline Affair
This blog post is the fourth in a series on the Queen Caroline Affair to mark its bicentenary. For an outline of the full story of the Affair, see this introductory blog post and this video. In this blog post, Dr Katie Carpenter …
THE TALENTED MR FAWCETT
This blog was written by Richard Ward, Assistant Archives Officer. Continuing our series of blogs on disability history, this is the life and times of Britain’s first blind MP. An inspiring story of determination, love and liberalism. It was a …
The Parliamentary Archives Jargon Buster: Hansard and the Journals
This blog was written by Verity Jones, Archives Assistant (Graduate Trainee). For the third blog in our Jargon Buster series, we’re looking at two different types of records which are often confused – Hansard and Journals. Both give detailed accounts …
The Prison Room of Elizabeth Tower
This blog was written by Verity Jones, Assistant Archivist (Trainee). The Palace of Westminster is full of quirks, and its secrets are still being discovered – did you hear about the secret doorway recently found near Westminster Hall? It is …
THE OTHER TOWER
This blog was written by Katherine Emery, Assistant Archives Officer. The two towers of the Houses of Parliament make up the well-known silhouette of the building. The more famous Elizabeth Tower, the clocktower that the holds Big Ben and the …
The Parliamentary Archives Jargon Buster: Acts of Parliament
This blog was written by Verity Jones, Archives Assistant Graduate Trainee. I am currently the Archives Assistant Graduate Trainee in the Parliamentary Archives, having started in September 2019. Over the last 8 months, I have got to grips with many …
JACK ASHLEY: NO BARRIERS
This blog was written by Richard Ward, Assistant Archives Officer. In the early hours of the 1st April 1966, BBC cameras covering the General Election captured the moment Jack Ashley was confirmed as the new Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent …