Alex Fisherof the Parliamentary Archives explains how you can use the archive’s varied records, many of which are freely available online
The Parliamentary Archives is based in the Victoria Tower of the Palace of Westminster, and holds approximately four million records. The collections are diverse, encompassing five main areas: the House of Commons and the House of Lords; the Palace of Westminster; Societies and Staff; Private Papers; and the UK Parliament Web Archive. What lies within is an exciting and rich resource that allows researchers to explore the history of the nation.
Records have been kept in Westminster since 1497 when Master Richard Hatton, clerk of the Parliaments, decided to retain the Acts passed that year in the Palace. Prior to this, records had been transferred to the Chancery along with government records. These earlier medieval records are now held at The National Archives in Kew and will be joined by our other collections by mid-2025. Its online catalogue Discovery can be searched at discovery. nationalarchives.gov.uk.
The earliest record in the Parliamentary Archives’ collections is ‘An Act for Taking of Apprentices to Make Worsteds in the County of Norfolk’. What follows is a complete set of records of the House of Lords. By contrast, the records of the House of Commons largely date from 1834 onwards, as the Great Fire of Westminster that broke out on 16 October of that year destroyed most of the records held in the Palace. Only 231 manuscript journals from the Commons survived the fire.
Fortunately, the records of the House of Lords were stored opposite the Palace in the Jewel Tower (which is now owned by English Heritage), and were saved. These records, and the surviving Commons records, were then moved to the Victoria Tower following its completion in 1860; designed by Charles Barry, at the time it was known as the King’s Tower in honour of William IV. In 2010 the Parliamentary Archives celebrated 150 years in its new home.
George Frideric Handel 1685–1759 The Parliamentary Archives holds a crucial record in the life of this brilliant composer
Born in Halle, then in Brandenburg-Prussia but now in Germany, in 1685, George Frideric Handel (baptised Georg Friedrich Händel) spent his early life developing his talent in his homeland. It was not until the early
