Digitised Historical Parliamentary Material
Published Parliamentary material has been digitised and made available on the Internet by various organisations.
The tables below summarise the main series of material which are available in electronic form. Please note that Parliament is not responsible for the content of external websites.
- UK Statutory Instruments
- Parliamentary Debates - House of Lords
- Proceedings and
- House of Lords Judgments
- Parliaments of Scotland
- Welsh Assembly
- Oireachtas (Republic of Ireland)
The Parliamentary Archives holds the historic records of the UK Parliament, including both the House of Commons and House of Lords. Access to hard copies of published Parliamentary material can usually be provided in the Parliamentary Archives searchroom, or photocopies provided for a fee.
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Images of printed public Acts, 1603-1836 |
Statutes at Large at the BOPCRIS 18th Century Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Text of Public Acts, 1628-1701 |
Statutes of the Realm at British History Online |
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Text of Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 1642-1660 |
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Images of printed public Acts, 1685-1714 |
Statutes of the Realm at the BOPCRIS 18th Century Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Text of Public Acts, 1988 to present |
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Text of Acts in force |
Statute Law Database. Current statute law may also be available in law offices and law libraries via subscription online services such as JUSTIS. |
The House of Commons Information Office factsheet on Tracing Acts of Parliament contains much useful advice on identifying, citing and accessing Acts. Acts not mentioned in this table are not available electronically. Printed versions will be available in large libraries and can be consulted at the Parliamentary Archives. Unprinted Acts are at the Parliamentary Archives. See the Parliamentary Archives FAQ for more information on finding Acts.
Local & Private Acts of Parliament
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Images of printed Private Acts and bills, 1702-1834 |
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Images of printed Local and Personal Acts, 1797-1834 |
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Images of printed Local and Personal Acts, 1799-1990 (some gaps) |
Not available on Internet. Produced by the House of Commons Private Bill Office and available on CD at the Parliamentary Archives. |
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Text of Local Acts, 1991 to present |
The House of Commons Information Office factsheet on Tracing Acts of Parliament contains useful advice on identifying, citing and accessing Acts. Acts not mentioned in this table are not available electronically. Printed versions will be available in large libraries and can be consulted at the Parliamentary Archives. Unprinted Acts are at the Parliamentary Archives. See the Parliamentary Archives FAQ for more information on finding Acts.
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Secondary legislation including regulations dating back to 1671 - present |
Subscription only at JUSTIS - not free online |
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Text of Statutory Instruments 1987-present |
Statutory Instruments (Statutory Rules & Orders before 1948) are a form of secondary or delegated legislation. For more information including Parliamentary procedure on SIs see the House of Commons Information Office factsheet on Statutory Instruments.
The annual volumes of national SIs, dating from 1891, will be available in large reference libraries and can be consulted at the Parliamentary Archives. See the Parliamentary Archives FAQ for more information on finding SIs.
Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) - House of Commons
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Images of Debates, 1066-1803 |
Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England at Oxford Digital Library |
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Text of Debates, 1559-1601 |
Sir Simonds d'Ewes's Journals of all the Parliaments at British History Online |
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Text of Debates, 1589-1601 |
Townshend's Historical Collections at British History Online |
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Text of Commons debates, 1653-1659 |
Burton's Parliamentary Diary at British History Online |
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Text of Commons debates, 1660-1739 |
Chandler's History and Proceedings at British History Online |
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Text of Commons debates, 1660-1739 |
Chandler's History and Proceedings at BOPCRIS 18th Century Official Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Text of Commons Debates, 1667-1694 |
Grey's Debates at British History Online |
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Images of Debates, 1774-1805 |
Parliamentary Register at the BOPCRIS 18th Century Official Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Hansard, 1803-2004 (Commons) |
Historic Hansard Prototype Parliament website: XML text as zipped files. These files are available to anyone for development purposes. The House of Commons Library is exploring options for making the text and images available online in another format, but with no firm completion date yet. |
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Text of House of Commons Hansard, November 1988 to present (except Standing/General Committee Hansard) |
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Text of House of Commons Standing/General Committee Hansard, session 1997-98 to present |
Hansard only dates from 1803; all earlier debates are unofficial, collected from various private sources. Also, Hansard was not a complete record of all debates until it became the Official Report in 1909; it was selective. Information on the history, operation and citation of Hansard can be found in the House of Commons Information Office factsheet, The Official Report.
Debates not mentioned in this table are not available electronically. They may be available in large reference libraries, or can be consulted in the Parliamentary Archives searchroom. See the Parliamentary Archives FAQ for more information on finding debates.
Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) - House of Lords
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Images of Debates, 1066-1803 |
Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England at Oxford Digital Library |
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Text of Debates, 1559-1601 |
Sir Simonds d'Ewes's Journals of all the Parliaments at British History Online |
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Text of Debates, 1589-1601 |
Townshend's Historical Collections at British History Online |
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Images of Lords debates, 1660-1742 |
Chandler's History and Proceedings at BOPCRIS 18th Century Official Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Images of Debates, 1774-1805 |
Parliamentary Register at the BOPCRIS 18th Century Official Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Hansard, 1803-2004 (Lords) |
Historic Hansard Prototype Parliament website: XML text as zipped files. These files are available to anyone for development purposes. The House of Commons Library is exploring options for making the text and images available online in another format, but with no firm completion date yet. |
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Text of House of Lords Hansard, November 1995 to present |
Hansard only dates from 1803; all earlier debates are unofficial, collected from various private sources. Also, Hansard was not a complete record of all debates until it became the Official Report in 1909; it was selective. Information on the history, operation and citation of Hansard can be found in the House of Commons Information Office factsheet, The Official Report.
Debates not mentioned in this table are not available electronically. They may be available in large reference libraries, or can be consulted in the Parliamentary Archives searchroom. See the Parliamentary Archives FAQ for more information on finding debates.
Parliamentary Papers (Sessional Papers, Blue Books) - House of Commons
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Commons Sessional Papers, 1714-1800 |
Lambert edition at the BOPCRIS 18th Century Official Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Commons Sessional Papers, 1801-1834 |
BOPCRIS 18th Century Official Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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British Parliamentary Papers on Ireland, 1801-1922 |
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Commons Parliamentary Papers, 1801-2004 |
Proquest/Chadwyck Healy. NB This is a subscription service - there is no free internet access. Check availability in large libraries or consult at the Parliamentary Archives. |
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House of Commons Committee reports, 1997 to present |
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Command Papers and House of Commons Papers, 2005 to present |
For more information on Parliamentary Papers, see the House of Commons Information Office factsheets on House of Commons Papers and Command Papers.
Parliamentary Papers not mentioned in this table are not available electronically. They may be available in large reference libraries or can be consulted in the Parliamentary Archives searchroom. See the Parliamentary Archives FAQ for more information on finding Parliamentary Papers.
Parliamentary Papers (Sessional Papers, Blue Books) - House of Lords
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Lords Sessional Papers, 1714-1805 |
Torrington edition at the BOPCRIS 18th Century Official Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Lords Parliamentary Papers, 1805-2001 |
No electronic versions available. |
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House of Lords Committee reports, 2001 to present |
Some House of Lords sessional papers are also printed among House of Commons sessional papers (e.g. Command Papers) for which see the table above.
Lords Parliamentary Papers not mentioned in this table are not available electronically. They may be available in large reference libraries or can be consulted in the Parliamentary Archives searchroom. See the Parliamentary Archives FAQ for more information on finding Parliamentary Papers.
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Images, text and translation of the Parliament Rolls of Medieval England, 1272-1504 |
Scholarly Digital Editions- subscription or CD-ROM purchase only; not free online. Text and translations also available by individual subscription from British History Online. |
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Text of House of Lords Journals 1509-1764 & 1832-1834 |
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Text of House of Commons Journals 1547-1699 & 1830 |
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Images of House of Commons Journals 1688-1834 |
BOPCRIS 18th Century Official Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Images of House of Lords Journals 1688-1834 |
BOPCRIS 18th Century Official Parliamentary Publications Portal |
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Text of House of Commons Journals, May 1997 - present |
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Text of House of Lords Minutes, June 1998 - present |
The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England are the general proceedings of Parliament in medieval times. The original documents of these are held at The National Archives.
The Journals are the formal record of proceedings in both Houses of Parliament. The Journals not mentioned in this table are not available electronically. They are printed and may be available in large reference libraries, or can be consulted in the Parliamentary Archives searchroom. The Parliamentary Archives also hold the original manuscript Journals.
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Selected Lords judgments, 1838 to present |
BAILII (British and Irish Legal Information Institute) website |
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All Lords judgments, 14 November 1996 to present |
Lords judgments not mentioned in this table are not available electronically. They may be available in law libraries or can be consulted in the Parliamentary Archives searchroom. See the Parliamentary Archives FAQ for more information on using the Archives.
Northern Ireland devolved Parliament and Assembly
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Northern Ireland devolved Parliament debates, 1921-1972 |
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Northern Ireland Assembly debates and papers, 1999 to present |
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Parliaments of Scotland to 1707: Acts and proceedings |
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Scottish Parliament debates and papers, May 1999 to present |
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Welsh Assembly debates and papers, May 1999 to present |
Oireachtas (Republic of Ireland)
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Acts of the Oireachtas, 1922-2003 |
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Parliamentary Debates, Dail 1919-2006 and Seanad 1922-2006 |
Parliamentary Archives Frequently Asked Questions
Parliamentary Archives home page
