Parliamentary History Record Series – serie

Parliamentary papers of Edward Harley, Third Earl of Oxford, and William Hay, MP for Seaford, 1716-1735.The parliamentary papers of Edward Harley and William Hay offer a unique insight into the politics of the 1730s and 1740s. The journals kept by the men during the latter part of Sir Robert Walpole's premiership provide two contrasting perspectives: Harley was a leading figure in the Tory party, and a fierce critic of the Whig ministry; Hay was an independently-minded but committed ministerialist. Hay gives an account of events in the Commons, while Harley,who succeeded to the earldom of Oxford in 1741, has a rare insider's view into proceedings in the House of Lords during the Whig supremacy. Other parliamentary papers include Hay's letters to Newcastle, providing a fascinating account of the bitterly contested elections of 1734 in Sussex and Lewes.STEPHEN TAYLOR is Professor in the History of Early Modern England, University of Durham; Dr CLYVE JONES is assistant librarian at the Institute ofHistorical Research, University of London.

An unusually complete collection of over 300 broadsides from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, produced in the heated political climate of the early 18c.In the half century before 1790, there had been only one contested election in Newcastle, but between 1790 and 1832 there were a dozen. This new and heated political climate prompted the production of a vast array of printed propaganda and political commentary, aimed at voters and non-voters alike. Most of this material took the form of single printed sheets, or broadsides, produced in great numbers and distributed amongst the town's inhabitants for free.This volume reproduces just over three hundred Newcastle broadsides published during this time; they constitute an important and unique collection, for though such material was produced in many constituencies in Hanoverian England, rarely has it survived in such a complete form. Material comes from Keele University Library, the Sutherland papers at the Staffordshire Record Office, and Newcastle Museum. A representative selection of reproductions of original broadsides is included to give the reader an idea of how contemporaries would have seen the texts and an introduction explains their context.Dr HANNAH BARKER is Lecturer in History at the University of Manchester; Dr DAVIDVINCENT is Professor of Social History at the University of Keele.