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British Government Documents (History)  

This guide is intended for students of British history.
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Guide to British Government Documents - Introduction

 

Rolls of Parliament

Rotuli Parliamentorum; Ut et Petitiones, et Placita in Parliamento. Earliest official records of the meetings of the Parliament; reigns of Edward I through Henry VII (1278-1503). 

  • NEW! Translated and easy to read! Parliament Rolls of Medieval England. Reproduces the rolls in their entirety, as well as a substantial amount of material never previously published, together with a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English). Includes an introduction to every parliament known to have been held by an English king (or in his name) between 1275 and 1504, whether or not the roll for that parliament survives. Appendices of supplementary material are also provided.

 

 

Parliamentary Debates

Parliamentary debates (often referred to as Hansard) are records of what is said in Parliament, roughly equivalent to the U.S.'s Congressional Record. Only since 1909 has Hansard been a verbatim report and official publication; before then, publications were based on secondary sources such as newspaper accounts. See http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/g17.pdf and http://www.hansard-westminster.co.uk/ for more information.



 

Journals

Journals are the official records of what is done in Parliament, roughly equivalent to the U.S.'s Daily Digest of the Congressional Record. The provisional records that are the basis for the Journals are Votes and Proceedings of the Lords. See http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/journal/ for more information.


 

Sessional Papers

Sessional Papers (also known as British Parliamentary Papers) are working documents presented to Parliament for consideration; they are sometimes referred to as "Blue Books" and are roughly equivalent to the U.S.'s Serial Set except they also have annual and monographic reports of executive agencies. There are three major categories of Sessional Papers:

  • Command Papers - Documents that are presented to Parliament by command of the monarch. Includes statements of government policy or "White Papers," reports of Royal Commissions, some major Committees of Inquiry, the annual reports of some government departments, papers concerned with foreign affairs (such as treaties), etc. See http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/p13.pdf for more information.

  • Bills - Drafts of legislation, to be reviewed through various parliamentary stages. If the bill passes through these stages, it will become an Act of Parliament. There are three categories of bills: public, private, and private members'. See http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/l01.pdf for more information.

  • House Papers / Reports - Documents resulting from the work of the Houses and their committees. See http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/p12.pdf for more information.

  • Please note that the library does not own all of the Sessional Papers. Library has:
    • 1715-1800. Reports From Committees of the House of Commons Which Have Been Printed by Order of the House, and are NOT Inserted in the Journals.16 volumes available from the Making of the Modern World database.

    • 1801-1900. House of Commons Parliamentary Papers available at Microfiche 332 and Sessional Papers at Microcard Serial 105 (ask at the Microforms/Current Periodicals Service Desk). Index: Subject Catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 1801-1900 at Z 2019 .C63 1988.

    • 2005-present. Online at official website.
 

Acts of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a law. There are two basic types of acts: public and private. Public acts affect the whole country. Private acts (also known as local and personal acts) affect the powers of individual groups such as companies or local authorities and were not officially printed until 1798. See http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/acts/ and http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-information-office/l12.pdf information.

See http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/pdf/englishlegal.pdf for a very detailed guide to English legal history.

 

Legal Cases

See http://www.law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/pdf/englishlegal.pdf for a very detailed guide to English legal history.

 

State Papers

State papers are records of English policy, foreign and domestic. The library owns many state papers online, on microfilm, and in print. See http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guide-listing.htm#s for research guides to the state papers from the British National Archives.


The database State Papers Online, 1509-1714, offers access to these state papers:

  • Part I: The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic
  • Part II: The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Foreign, Scotland, Borders, Ireland and Registers of the Privy Council
  • Part III: The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I- Anne I, 1603-1714: State Papers Domestic
  • Part IV The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I - Anne I, 1603-1714, State Papers Foreign, Ireland and Registers of the Privy Council

Please note that in the database the original papers (manuscripts) are handwritten and can be very difficult to read. The corresponding calendars, however, provide abstracts or summaries of the documents. The calendars are fully searchable, but the original manuscripts are not.

Included in State Papers Online is Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. To get to them, go to "Browse," "Browse Calendars," and scroll down to "Letters and Papers...," click on the + key, and a list of all volumes will appear.

To see key documents, click on "Research Tools" and then "Key Documents." For example, the document "The King's Divorce, 31 May 1527. The Hearing of Henry VII's Petition for Divorce from Catherine of Aragon" is available in this section. (Both the original, very difficult to read manuscript, and the easy to read calendar.)


To see a list of paper calendars and other documents owned by the library see http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/S/Laurie.L.Scrivener-1/print.htm#England.


To see a list of microform materials owned by the library see: http://guides.ou.edu/content.php?pid=328185&sid=2753320.


Another database with state papers is called Colonial State Papers. The papers in this database relate to English activities in the colonies of America, Canada, and the West Indies between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.

 

British History Online and the Avalon Project

British History Online is a digital resource containing some of the core printed primary sources for the medieval and modern history of Britain. Most of the material is free, but some is not. See http://www.british-history.ac.uk/subscribe.aspx for a list of materials that are NOT free. (Some are available in the database State Papers Online, described above.)

National Archives (U.K.) Online Collections - Over 5% of The National Archives’ records have so far been digitized. Note that the site asks you to "add to basket" and then enter an email address. Once you receive the email, there will be a link to your document.

Also see the Avalon Project from Yale Law School. It includes digital documents relevant to law, history, government, etc from ancient times to the present.

 

 

Links Are Bold!

In this guide, hyperlinks are in bold, so if you see something in bold font, it's probably a link. Click on it!

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