Public Petitions to Parliament - New Library Resource

The Library has purchased two major collections of UK Parliamentary papers:

• Public Petitions to Parliament, 1833-1918
• House of Commons Parliamentary Papers - 21st Century (2015-2024 - additional years) 

These collections will be of particular interest to history, politics and sociology researchers as well as staff and students in the general humanities.

Public Petitions to Parliament, 1833-1918

The collection includes Records of the Select Committee on Public Petitions, allowing researchers to gain insight on the formative role of petitions to Parliament during the 19th century (1833-1918).

Included are the 950,000 petitions accepted by Parliament between 1833-1918. The popular constitutionalism inherent in this collection is at the cutting edge of historical research and has wide appeal across campus.

Public Petitions to Parliament are important indicators of the views and priorities of both the populace and Parliament. How the petitions were addressed or ignored illustrates the political and social priorities of the time.

This material appeals to all social, cultural, and religious scholars of Britain, and contains materials on:

• Crime and criminals.

• Colonies, taxation, education, and every other issue of

interest to the populace of Britain.

• Religious scholars interested on Methodism and the Church of England.

• Scientists concerned with pollution and pollution controls during the Industrial Revolution.

• Sociologists concerned with how these issues were influenced by the people.

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers - 21st Century (2015-2024 - additional years)

U.K. Parliamentary Papers provides complete online coverage of the sessional papers of the British House of Commons and the 19th Century House of Lords. 

It includes detailed primary source for the history of Britain, its colonies, and the wider world. It covers working documents of government for all areas of social, political, economic and foreign policy. 

These additional years purchased by the Library ensure that we are up to date with all coverage related to current topics such as Brexit, the border and the EU Single Market and the Institutions of Northern Ireland.  

Collection Development / Forbairt Bailiúchán