Journals
The permanent official record of the decisions and other transactions of the House of Commons from 1547, and the House of Lords from 1509. The contents of the Journals of the House of Lords are substantially similar to that of the Journals of the House of Commons, with some variations. Since 1801, the Journals of the House of Commons are published in the Sessional Papers (see below).
Hansard Debates
The record of the proceedings in the Houses of Parliament, the Debates are often referred to as Hansard after the British family that published the proceedings of the House of Commons between 1812-1899.
Hansard: The official report of all Parliamentary debates. Find Members, their contributions, debates petitions and divisions from published Hansard reports dating back over 200 years. Daily debates from Hansard are published on this website the next working day.
To search the library catalogue for print copies:
| Hansard: House of Commons | GB2 P23.5 P27 |
| Hansard: House of Lords | GB2 P26.5 P27 |
Note that the final volume of each series includes an index; index volumes for 1924-1985/1986 are available in the Scott Government Reference Collection on the second floor of the Scott Library (GB2 P23.5 P27).
Sessional Papers
Sessional Papers are the working papers created by the Commons and also those presented to it. They include bills, reports from committees, State Papers, papers presented by Royal Commissions or by Government departments, and statements of Governmental policy.
Use the online U.K.Parliamentary Papers to access the full-text of sessional papers of the House of Commons from 1715 to the present. Be sure to limit your search by year and, if relevant, type of document.
This product supports the use of AND, OR, NEAR, FBY, "" and * commands.
For example:
sexual* FBY.3 disease*
"colonial reports" AND (Jamaica OR Grenada OR Hong Kong)
health* NEAR.10 hous*
British Documents on Foreign Affairs: Reports and Papers
This multi-volume series reproduces original correspondence collected by the Foreign Office. Available on the 3rd floor of the Scott Library in the government collections (compact shelving) at GB1 F6.7 B73.
Newspapers and Periodicals
Search through the complete (1785-1985) digital edition of The Times (London) using keyword searching and hit-term highlighting to retrieve full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page. The entire newspaper is captured, with all articles, advertisements, and illustrations/photos divided into categories to facilitate searching.
The Gazette (1665 onward)
The Gazette is formally the combination of three publications: The London Gazette, The Belfast Gazette and The Edinburgh Gazette. The Gazettes are official journals of record for the UK. As a publication, The Gazette consists largely of statutory notices. This means that there is some legal requirement for the notice placer to advertise an event or proposal in The Gazette.
British Periodicals
Provides access to the searchable full text of hundreds of periodicals from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth.
Mass Observation Archive
"Mass-Observation can be described as a project designed to involve the mass of "ordinary people" in a sociological research process - an "anthropology at home" - as a way of harnessing and explicating "public opinion" as well as, relatedly, helping close the gap between the decision-making of political leaders and the convictions and wishes of ordinary people. Its history is entwined in complex and fascinating ways with the history of the disciplines of anthropology, economics and particularly with sociology."
(Liz Stanley, Professor of Sociology , Manchester University writing in The Archaeology of a 1930s Mass-Observation Project)
Mass Observation Online provides integrated access to c115,000 digital images of material from the Mass Observation Archive (MOA). In addition, it functions as a finding aid for all material held on Adam Matthew Publications microfilm, and in the Mass Observation Archive.
York University Libraries have purchased Part 2 (reels 7-26) and Part 4 (reels 49-68) of the Mass Observation Archive, available in the Microtext Department on the entry level of the Scott Library. Microtext staff can assist with viewing, printing and digitizing materials in microtext formats. Guides to this collection are available in the Microtext Department and also online at http://www-amdigital-co-uk.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/collection/mass-observation-online
Selected Primary Sources - Available Online
Empire Online
A collection of original documents relating to Empire Studies, sourced from libraries and archives around the world.
History of the United Kingdom: Primary Documents
EuroDocs links connect to (mainly primary) historical documents that are transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. They shed light on key historical happenings within the respective countries of Western Europe.
Note, no guarantee of accuracy is implied or assumed, particularly for remote links.
The World War I Document Archive
An archive of primary documents from World War One assembled by volunteers of the World War I Military History List (WWI-L).
Women in the National Archives
A finding aid to Women's Studies Resources in the National Archives, combined with original documents on the Suffrage Question in Britain, the Empire and Colonial Territories.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries
Includes the full text of 60,000 pages of letters and diaries of 430 women from Colonial times to 1950. Biographical information on the writers is also included, as is a bibliography of sources in the database.