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Parliament: Past History, Present History, Future History

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Making History Now and Then

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Abstract

Like the British monarchy, the Westminster parliament has been around for a long time but, like the monarchy again, the writing of its history is a relatively recent (though a slightly more venerable) phenomenon. The great enterprise that is known as the History of Parliament is an iconic British undertaking which, in its scale, scope and significance, may fittingly be grouped with such cognate co-operative ventures as the Dictionary of National Biography, the Survey of London, the Victoria County History, and the Buildings of England series.2 All of these great enterprises are multi-volume productions, inaugurated by dedicated and (sometimes, but not always) charismatic founders, which have subsequently evolved into major schemes of collective and collaborative inquiry, and all of them are (rightly and of necessity) still very much works in progress. Long may they continue to be so. From the outset, these massive projects have been informed by a strong sense of educational purpose as well as of academic aspiration, and across the decades since the late nineteenth century, when the earliest of them were first established, they have become increasingly integral to our national life and public conversations, encompassing (as they do together) London and the regions, the natural and also the manmade environment, people as well as places, power along with culture. As such, they combine perspective, popularity and prestige in a uniquely resonant way: they help us understand where we have come from, how and where we live now, and who we are today; they are the envy of many other countries around the globe who lack such splendid series; and no serious library, anywhere in the English-speaking world, can afford to be without their magnificent volumes.

This chapter began as the annual History of Parliament Lecture, delivered in Portcullis House in London on 21 November 2006. I am grateful to the Trustees of the History of Parliament Trust, and especially to their chairman, Sir Patrick Cormack, for their kind invitation. In preparing this more substantial version, as with the lecture itself, I have been helped by Priscilla Baines, Helen McCarthy, Paul Seaward and Jane Winters. Although I am myself a member of the editorial board of the History of Parliament, the views and opinions expressed in this article are entirely my own. Two abbreviations have been used in the notes: HOP: History of Parliament; JCW: Colonel Josiah Clement Wedgwood.

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Notes

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  1. Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, University of London, UK

    David Cannadine

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© 2008 David Cannadine

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Cannadine, D. (2008). Parliament: Past History, Present History, Future History. In: Making History Now and Then. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230594265_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230594265_4

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