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The first woman of British parliament

Posted by: Tara Finn, Posted on: 28 November 2019 - Categories: First World War, Foreign affairs and diplomacy, Foreign Office Historians, Parliament
Nancy Astor in a family portrait in front of a family home.

It was not by long-term design that the first woman took her seat in the House of Commons.

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Magna Carta and counselling the King

Posted by: Dr Jessica Nelson, Posted on: 15 June 2015 - Categories: Parliament, The Monarchy, The National Archives
The Victorians celebrated Magna Carta as the foundation of liberty and democracy. This photograph from 1899 depicts King John and the barons at Runnymede in 1215 during a scene from a play performed at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1899. The National Archives, COPY 1/442/651 (3)

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the granting of Magna Carta by King John. Today, the Great Charter is viewed as the foundation of many of our rights and liberties and throughout the year there are commemorations, exhibitions and …

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Simon de Montfort’s 1265 Parliament

Posted by: Dr Jessica Nelson, Posted on: 20 January 2015 - Categories: Parliament, The National Archives
Close roll (TNA ref: C 54/82)

Tuesday 20 January marks the 750th anniversary of the beginning of a crucial parliament in the history of government – one that marks an important change in the extent to...

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Henrietta Maria - the forgotten Queen?

Posted by: Lauren Willmott, Posted on: 28 April 2014 - Categories: The Monarchy
A copy of Mercurius Britanicus from Nov 1643 (The National Archives reference SP 9/245/19

The British Civil Wars has always interested me and International Women's Day  prompted me to focus my blog post on a crucial, controversial, yet often overlooked, figure in British history, Henrietta Maria. I came across little, other than biographical histories, …

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