History of Parliament Online

The History of Parliament has a vacancy for a research fellow on its 1640-1660 House of Lords project. The successful candidate will have a PhD in British political history in the seventeenth century. They will join a small team of professional historians researching and writing the biographies of peers who sat in the Lords in the 1640-60 period. They will also contribute to the project’s academic and public engagement activities and the development of new digital resources. It is expected that the successful applicant will start in Autumn 2024.

The History of Parliament

The History of Parliament Trust has been promoting research on the UK’s political history for over 60 years. Its publications include 65 volumes examining the House of Commons and House of Lords in periods from the 14^th century onwards, alongside a series of books aimed at wider audiences. The History’s related website provides detailed biographies of those who served in Parliament and in-depth studies of constituency politics. There are also survey volumes collating the findings of the research and examining the operation of Parliament as an institution.

The Trust undertakes a variety of engagement and outreach activities to promote interest in the history of the UK Parliament. This includes partnerships on AHRC, Leverhulme and British Academy funded projects, supervising PhDs, collaborations with History and Public History degree programmes, student internships, dissertation competitions, and running conferences and seminars, including the ‘Parliaments, Politics and People’ seminar at the Institute of Historical Research. It also develops historical resources, collaborating with organisations like the British Library, British History Online, the House of Commons Library and Parliamentary Digital Service on oral history and digitisation projects and the creation of open-access, web-based datasets. The Trust is funded by both Houses of Parliament with offices in central London. It is one of the most widely cited and regularly accessed historical resources in the UK, regularly attracting over one million annual visitors to its website and around 200,000 views of its related blog sites covering current research projects.

The 1640-1660 House of Lords project

The work of the recently established House of Lords 1640-1660 section builds upon the research of the Trust’s nine-volume House of Commons, 1640-1660 which was published in May 2023. In writing the biographies of the 255 peers and bishops eligible to sit during the period, the section will explore the shifting nature and perceptions of aristocratic power during the mid-seventeenth century and the impact upon the Lords and the peerage of civil war, party strife and new ideological commitments to king and ‘commonwealth’. Addressing these and related themes will take the new section to the heart of popular as well as parliamentary politics in the English Revolution. A survey volume, interpreting the discoveries of the research and exploring the institutional operation of the Lords is also being prepared. The section’s work will provide a key resource for political and local historians of the seventeenth century and all those interested in the causes, course and outcomes of the British Civil Wars.

Alongside research and writing, staff are expected to give papers and to attend and help organise academic conferences and seminars, collaborate on related research programmes and exhibitions, and respond to public and media inquiries. Further information and shorter articles drawing on the section’s research can be found on our blogpost Revolutionary Stuart Parliaments.

Job Description: Research Fellow

The History of Parliament is seeking a research fellow to work on the House of Lords 1640-1660 section. Working in the section with the editor Dr David Scott and the assistant editor Dr Patrick Little, the postholder will be responsible for:

- Researching, writing and revising biographies for the 1640-1660 volumes to a high academic standard, using online resources supplemented by work in libraries and archives

- Delivering biographies to an agreed timeframe, making changes required by the editor

- Actively assisting the History of Parliament’s blogging, social media and engagement activities, preparing and delivering public talks, conference/seminar papers on themes related to the project, supporting the Trust’s wider academic engagement activities, and assisting with inquiries from the public, Parliament and the media

- Contributing to the History of Parliament’s development of new digital resources and helping to maintain existing databases and websites

Full vacancy information and person specification can be found here.

Applications

Applicants must submit a completed application form, recent CV and a letter of no more than two A4 pages outlining your interest in the post to the office manager, atucker@histparl.ac.uk by 14 June 2024.

Download the History of Parliament job application form here. 

The History of Parliament are pleased to announce that our Undergraduate Dissertation Competition is running again for 2024!

We will be awarding a prize of £250 to the best undergraduate dissertation presented in 2024 on a subject relating to British or Irish parliamentary or political history.

Each university is invited to submit one dissertation by 30 September 2024.

Full competition brief and submission instructions can be found here.

Email cjeffery@histparl.ac.uk for additional information.

The History of Parliament has a vacancy for a Public Engagement Assistant to join our small but busy communications team to maintain and further develop our public presence via our website, social media and to contribute to the expansion of our projects and outreach activities in and through Parliament, education, and the voluntary sector.

The History of Parliament is one of the largest and most comprehensive research projects in British History.  Our published volumes provide summary biographies of Members of Parliament, surveys of politics and elections in each constituency, and introductory material, and so far cover periods from the fourteenth century to the nineteenth.  We are currently working on periods in the fifteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Most of our work has also been published on our website, which we are currently redeveloping and expanding. The project has an active presence on social media and undertakes a lively programme of events and outreach activities.

We’re looking for someone with excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, a strong interest in history and some experience in writing for/managing non-personal social media and websites and other engagement and outreach activities. The appointment is offered initially on a fixed-term basis for two years.

Job title: Public Engagement Assistant

Reporting to: Public Engagement Officer

Salary: £28,509 (point 16)

This post is offered on a full-time basis, but The History of Parliament is open to the possibility of a 3/5 or 4/5 part-time appointment. Some work can be done remotely, but there will be a requirement to attend the office in central London for 1 day a week.

Informal Enquiries can be sent to either Dr Jennifer Davey, the Director (jdavey@histparl.ac.uk) or Connie Jeffery, Public Engagement Manager (cjeffery@histparl.ac.uk)

Full job description and person specification available here

Application form available here

Please send C.V., application form and cover letter to atucker@histparl.ac.uk

Deadline: 27 March 2024

Interviews will be held remotely week commencing 15^th April