Family history resources at the Parliamentary Archives
Jodie Kidd, model and TV personality, visited the Parliamentary Archives to trace her ancestors for the BBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?'
Jodie Kidd visits the Parliamentary Archives
She found her ancestors at the Parliamentary Archives - can you?
The Parliamentary Archives holds various collections of personal papers of politicians and other prominent people, including David Lloyd George, Andrew Bonar Law and Lord Beaverbrook.
Jodie Kidd's great-grandfather Rowland Hodge is mentioned in two letters in the Lloyd George papers at the Parliamentary Archives.
She found him by searching the Parliamentary Archives' online catalogue, Portcullis.
Find out about how she did it and watch clips of her in the Parliamentary Archives on the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are site.
The whole programme is available to watch on the BBC's iPlayer until Mon 6 October.
You don't have to have famous ancestors to find them in the Parliamentary Archives!
Maybe your ancestor was an MP, or peer, or worked in Parliament.
But even if not, the decisions taken by Parliament affect the lives of everyone. Thousands of ordinary people appear in documents in the Parliamentary Archives, for many different reasons.
Perhaps they :
- Were naturalised as British citizens before 1848
- Took the oath of allegiance to the Protestant religion in 1642
- Were a Catholic in 1767
- Gave evidence on proposed roads, railways, canals and other public works, from 1774
- Lived in a place affected by a proposed road, railway, canal or other public work, from 1794
- Signed a petition to Parliament
Acts of Parliament, 1497 - present
The Parliamentary Archives holds 62,000 Acts of Parliament. Those of interest to family historians include Acts to effect:
Divorces - Until 1858, a full divorce allowing re-marriage could only be obtained by Act of Parliament. The Parliamentary Archives holds the original Acts, which were usually never printed, and in some cases there are background papers. Read more about divorce acts, including about the first divorce Act to be granted to a woman, here.
Changes of name - This was sometimes done by Act of Parliament, although was more usually effected in other ways (Royal Licence and deed poll).
Naturalisations - Naturalisation was the process by which a foreign born individual could become a British citizen. Until 1844, naturalisation as a British citizen could only be obtained by Act of Parliament. These Acts were usually not printed, and the original manuscript parchment rolls are held at the Parliamentary Archives.
One of the most famous people to be naturalised by Act of Parliament was the composer George Frideric Handel. Read more about his naturalisation and the naturalisation process generally here.
Read our FAQ, I want... information on someone naturalised by Act of Parliament.
The document pictured to the left is a rare naturalisation Act dating from after 1844.
An Act to naturalise Isaac Aaron Abensur and to grant and confer upon him all the rights privileges and capacities of a natural-born subject of Her Majesty the Queen, 1896.
Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/PB/1/1896/59&60V1n272
Protestation Returns, 1642
Read our FAQ, I want... a Protestation Return.
The Protestation returns of 1642 give names of adult males who made the protestation ‘to maintain the true reformed Protestant religion’. The names were usually listed by the minister for the parish, but in the one pictured below, subscribers have made their own marks.
Protestation return for Callington, Cornwall, 1642. Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/JO/10/1/79A.
Roman Catholic Returns ('Papist Returns')
Various attempts made between the restoration of monarchy & Anglican church in 1660, and the Catholic Relief Act 1791, to compile lists of Catholics. Many such lists survive locally. The Parliamentary Archives holds some such lists which were laid before Parliament. Compiled by bishops, diocese by diocese, sometimes individual names are recorded as in the example below.
Roman Catholic Return for Wigan, 1767. Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/JO/10/7/270
Private Bill evidence, 1771 to present
There are 5,400 volumes of evidence on private bills on roads, railways, canals and other public works, mostly dating from 1835 onwards. They consist of a verbatim account, directly taken from shorthand notes, of examination of promoters, engineers and other expert witnesses, of property holders and of other members of the public. These volumes have been indexed on a database which can be searched in the Parliamentary Archives searchroom.
Read our FAQ, I want... information on someone who gave evidence to a committee.
Evidence taken on Private Bills. Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/PB/5.
Deposited plans, 1794 - present
The Parliamentary Archives holds some 28,000 plans deposited in connection with private Bills for the construction of railways, roads, and other such schemes. They include documents giving names of owners, occupiers and other individuals.
Birmingham Corporation Bill plan book of Reference, 1945-46. Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/PB/3/plan1945-1946/B3
Petitions
Most petitions to Parliament do not survive, unfortunately. Read our FAQ, I want... a petition presented to Parliament
Those that do can be of great interest to family historians. The Parliamentary Archives and the Manchester and Lancaster Family History Society digitised and transcribed two large petitions from Manchester to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in 2007. You can read them on the Parliament and the Slave Trade website, for and against the slave trade.
The document on the left is a petition in support of women's suffrage, 1885. Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/6/12/37
Read our FAQ: I want... information about a Member of Parliament
Photographs of Members of Parliament
If one of your ancestors was an MP a photograph may have survived. The Parliamentary Archives holds a small collection of photographs of MPs, mostly dating from the mid to late 19th century.
Thomas Alcock MP (1801-1866). Parliamentary Archives, PHO/1/2/94
Read our FAQ: I want... information about a peer
Peers' Pedigrees
Between 1767 and 1802 every peer on first admission to the House delivered a Pedigree "fairly described on vellum". These highly illustrated pedigrees show up to eight generations of the family line.
The Talbot Pedigree. Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/JO/22
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