Research Guides: British History: Parliamentary Papers

Sessional Papers

Sessional Papers are the documents generated by the Houses of Parliament during their day-to-day operations, including select committee reports and minutes of proceedings.

Access to sessional papers and debates for the 18th and 19th centuries are available electronically through the UK Parliamentary Papers database, purchased by FSU Libraries. The 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries are covered by the United Kingdom's online website, called Hansard. Both resources are linked below.

U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
U.K. Parliamentary Papers are vital to the historical record of Britain, its former colonies, and the wider world. The records are among the richest and most detailed primary sources for history of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The collection currently includes:
- Bills and Acts 1695-1900 (“House of Commons drafts of legislation, to be reviewed through various parliamentary stages.”)
- Command Papers 1833-1900 (“House of Commons government papers conveying information or decisions the Government wishes to draw to attention of the House, presented ‘by Command of Her Majesty’.”)
- House of Commons Papers 1715-1900 (“Documents resulting from the work of the House of Commons.”)
- House of Lords Papers, 1714-1805
- House of Commons Hansard, 1803-2005 (Transcription of debates)
- House of Lords Hansard, 1803-2005 (Transcription of debates)

Hansard
Modern UK Parliament's website, providing access to contemporary debates and journals, including the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

Cobbett's parliamentary history of England from the Norman conquest in 1066, to the year 1803, from which last-mentioned epoch it is continued downwards in the work entitled, "Cobbett's parliamentary debates"
Publication Date: 1806-1820
Includes parliamentary debates from 1066-1803, available in 36 volumes scanned and full-text searchable on HathiTrust.

Journals

The journal of each House of Parliament serves as the corrected edition of Votes and Proceedings; it is the "formal record" of that House's business for each day. Journals for the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries are included in the electronic resources provided above: UK Parliamentary Papers database and Hansard online.

Below are additional historical journals for both House of Commons and House of Lords are available online or in the microfilm collections at Strozier Library.

House of Commons Journals, 1547-1699
Additional years available on microfilm:
1547-1900 Strozier Micromaterials, Film 4416
House of Lords Journals, 1509-1793
Additional years available on microfilm:
1620-1916 Strozier Micromaterials, Film 4149

Laws & Judicial Proceedings

HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Under "Browse Databases by Name," see English Reports (1220-1867), and Statutes of the Realm (1235-1713).
The English Reports is a collection of nominate reports, or published collections of reports of judgments of English cases in various courts.
The Statutes of the Realm is an authoritative collection of Acts of the Parliament of England from the earliest times to the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, and Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain passed up to the death of Queen Anne in 1714.
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Abbreviation: hein
Vendor: HeinOnline
Subjects: Business Legal Studies, History, International Affairs, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Law, Middle Eastern Studies, Russian & Eastern European Studies
Type: E-Journal Collections, Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources
Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800–1926 This link opens in a new window
Provides digital images on every page of 22,000 legal treatises on US and British law published from 1800 through 1926. Full-text searching on more than 10 million pages provides researchers with access to critical legal history in ways not previously possible.
Abbreviation: moml
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1800–1926
Subjects: History, Law
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources

Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913
A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.

British Trials, 1660-1900
Call Number: STROZIER LIBRARY Micromaterials -- Mif 1821
Guide at Micr KD370 .B72
Over 2000 microfiche
Non-official accounts of what was said in court, originally published as separate pamphlets or books for sale to the public at large. The majority are verbatim transcripts of what was said in court, and from 1750 these were compiled by the foremost shorthand experts of the day. In the seventeenth century the reports tended to be brief summaries of trial proceedings, but even these usually provide more information than other sources. In the main, they were published as commercial undertakings by printers and booksellers, who clearly found there to be a ready market for accounts of a vast range of trials.