The choice of a Speaker was, for centuries, a well-entrenched system falling to the govening power but during the twentieth century this process became increasingly outdated resulting in a new secret ...

The political impartiality of the Speaker is a key feature of the office, while the role's authority has developed over time alongside other procedural reforms. The political impartiality of the ...

In parallel with factories, mills and workshops, Victorian legislators also responded to concern about working conditions in coal mines, especially the employment of women and children. In 1842 a ...

Even mill-owners were beginning to speak up for improved conditions. A strong humanitarian campaign had grown outside Parliament, championed by the MPs Anthony Ashley-Cooper (later the 7th Earl of ...

From the late 18th century children formed a rising proportion of the population almost two out of five people by the mid-1820s. It was common for them to work to supplement family incomes. Orphans ...

The problem of poverty caused growing public concern during the early 19th century. The existing system for looking after those unable to care for themselves - the old, sick, disabled, orphans and ...

In 1832, the government appointed a royal commission to investigate the workings of the Poor Law and make recommendations for improvement. The commissioners sent out questionnaires and visited over ...

The Speaker has many roles including presiding over debates in the House of Commons, representing the House on ceremonial occasional and events and the administration of the House. He is supported in ...

In the final years of his life, Cobbett rented a farm in his home county of Surrey. Despite declining health he was still able to publish two books in this period, entitled ‘Legacy to Labourers' and ...

Petition of Several Persons, Natives of America, whose Names are thereunto subscribed, against the Bill for 'An Act for better regulating the Government of the Province of The Massachusets Bay, in New ...