A Regency Stroll Around Westminster,1817
Walks through London including Westminster and the Borough of Southwark was written by David Hughson in 1817 and published in two pocket-sized volumes, with handy maps for the curious. It indicates...
View ArticleParliament Buildings of the World: No 5 – Sicily
Is there anywhere in the world, I wondered last week, which like the old Palace of Westminster a) was a palace complex built by a Norman king b) had a royal chapel as glorious as St Stephen’s, with an...
View ArticleNorth, South, East or Westminster?
You may have seen a story in the news that there is an early day motion being set down in the House of Commons for the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster (officially ‘St Stephen’s Tower’ but...
View ArticleThe Table Spencer Perceval Didn’t Die On
Today is the 200th anniversary of the day when the British Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, was assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons. He was shot at 5.15pm at point blank range on 11 May...
View ArticleA Follow-up to Spencer Perceval’s Death-Table
My blogpost of 11 May 2012, which sparked a lot of interest, needs an update – especially in relation to my speculation that it may have been the Commons Chamber table between 1730-1800. In thinking...
View ArticleDickens and Parliament
Earlier this week I gave a micro-lecture at an event to celebrate Dickens’ connections with Parliament, and I reproduce some of it here. Having had an indifferent education up to 12 and then famously...
View ArticleJust Arrived
As a friend who is a special collections librarian commented, “First edition, first issue in first state dust-jacket”. The post Just Arrived appeared first on Caroline Shenton.
View ArticleThe She-Wolf of Westminster
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far, away I used to be a medieval historian. I still describe myself as that (“I’m a medievalist really”) when I can’t quite get my head round having written a book...
View ArticlePublication Day
It’s finally here! More… The post Publication Day appeared first on Caroline Shenton.
View ArticleRelics of the Old Palace of Westminster
One of my hopes on publishing The Day Parliament Burned Down was that new information which I had been unable to track down in my research would come to light when readers and audiences got to hear...
View ArticleAn Eyewitness on an Omnibus Comes Forward
Breaking news! The Nichols family who edited and printed The Gentleman’s Magazine were also parliamentary printers and their office was at 25 Parliament Street. John Gough Nichols (1806-1873) sent a...
View ArticleMore Relics of the Old Palace of Westminster
News of some other mementoes carved from the ruins of the old Palace of Westminster following the 1834 fire has reached me. This time they’ve been created from salvaged stonework, and depict a...
View ArticleMy Hot Date with Mr Turner
I’m currently on a lecture tour for the Royal Oak Foundation (Americans in Alliance with the National Trust), and a few days ago I had the opportunity to visit one of the great Turner oils of the 1834...
View ArticleNot Seen, Not Heard: The Ladies’ Gallery of the Old Palace of Westminster
This week is Parliament Week, and 2013’s theme is ‘Women in Democracy’. I thought it would be fun therefore to provide you with a description of what it was like for women to visit a debate in the...
View ArticleYet More Relics of the Old Palace
I blogged this time last year about the snuff boxes made from salvaged wood from the old Palace which still occasionally turn up at antique dealers, and early in 2013 about the mysterious ornaments...
View ArticleJames Gillray and the Old Palace of Westminster
James Gillray (1756-1815) was one the most brilliant caricaturists of all time. He was brought up in the Moravian faith, a strict Protestant sect which forebade any form of entertainment or...
View ArticleAnother Relic of the Old Houses of Parliament
News has reached me from British Columbia of yet another snuff box made from the salvaged wood of the Painted Chamber. So far this is the most far-flung one I know of: taken there by someone who...
View ArticleIn the Picture
Here is a recent blogpost I wrote for the excellent Virtual St Stephen’s Project, a collaborative academic project based at York University which is seeking to reconstruct the history and architecture...
View ArticleSnuff’s Enough
It had to happen. Yes, more stuff boxes have come to light. Regular readers of this blog will know that I have a growing collection of memorabilia relating to the old Palace, specifically items made...
View ArticleTickets for The Day Parliament Burned Down, 16 Oct 2021 6pm
This year for the 187th anniversary of the fire which burned down the old Houses of Parliament, I’m marking the event with a talk on Zoom. With stunning images from the Parliamentary Art Collection and...
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