House of Lords Reform : A History (2 vols)

1283 Pages·014.356 MB·English

by  Peter Raina

y
TH
h
o r
e
u
O o Volume I
s d
re
i t
g e

One of the peculiarities of British history is the development io s
n r
of a constitution headed by the Crown and the two Houses sf
ir
of Parliament. This system emerged to become a balance of toL He
democracy, ef ficiency and moderation that became the o
1 f
admiration of the world. r
9 e
The contribution of the House of Lords to this balance 3d A
is all too often overlooked. In this richly documented two- 7s D Peter Raina
:
volume work, the author of fers a detailed examination of the R
P
Lords’ constitutional position and the predicament they faced e :s
r l
as the Commons increasingly championed popular rule. of m
a
po
With a landowning membership based on the hereditary
or s
principle, the Lords struggled to adapt. Yet, valiant attempts sm ro
a
were made. The author gives us the first thorough, full-
length history of the Lords’ ambiguous responses to the ls: op

new democracy and the stream of arguments, proposals DA o
e f
and bills raised for reform of their House.
fH er
Drawing on speeches, letters, reports and memoranda of e
ri P
the times (some never previously published), the book brings rs R
et
to life the inner wranglings and arresting personalities, the :
do
hopes and anxieties and the sheer frustrations of a House 7
r
divided between entrenched interests and idealism, and y s3
often threatened by progressives outside. d9
The two books in Volume One cover the period from
1
the medieval origins of the House of Lords and proceed, r
I
through many tumultuous events, to the outbreak of the oo
Second World War.
t
L

s

PETER RAINA is currently Visiting Research Scholar, Faculty n
f
of History, Oxford University. He has been Senior Research i
o
Associate, Balliol College, Oxford, and Honorary Member of g
the High Table and Associate Member of the Senior Common i
r
Room, Christ Church, Oxford. e
O
s

e
u
h
ISBN 978-3034-3-0749-9 oT
H
Peter Lang
www.peterlang.com
y
TH
h
o r
e
u
O o Volume I
s d
re
i t
g e

One of the peculiarities of British history is the development io s
n r
of a constitution headed by the Crown and the two Houses sf
ir
of Parliament. This system emerged to become a balance of toL He
democracy, ef ficiency and moderation that became the o
1 f
admiration of the world. r
9 e
The contribution of the House of Lords to this balance 3d A
is all too often overlooked. In this richly documented two- 7s D Peter Raina
:
volume work, the author of fers a detailed examination of the R
P
Lords’ constitutional position and the predicament they faced e :s
r l
as the Commons increasingly championed popular rule. of m
a
po
With a landowning membership based on the hereditary
or s
principle, the Lords struggled to adapt. Yet, valiant attempts sm ro
a
were made. The author gives us the first thorough, full-
length history of the Lords’ ambiguous responses to the ls: op

new democracy and the stream of arguments, proposals DA o
e f
and bills raised for reform of their House.
fH er
Drawing on speeches, letters, reports and memoranda of e
ri P
the times (some never previously published), the book brings rs R
et
to life the inner wranglings and arresting personalities, the :
do
hopes and anxieties and the sheer frustrations of a House 7
r
divided between entrenched interests and idealism, and y s3
often threatened by progressives outside. d9
The two books in Volume One cover the period from
1
the medieval origins of the House of Lords and proceed, r
I
through many tumultuous events, to the outbreak of the oo
Second World War.
t
L

s

PETER RAINA is currently Visiting Research Scholar, Faculty n
f
of History, Oxford University. He has been Senior Research i
o
Associate, Balliol College, Oxford, and Honorary Member of g
the High Table and Associate Member of the Senior Common i
r
Room, Christ Church, Oxford. e
O
s

e
u
h
o
T
H
Peter Lang
www.peterlang.com
House of Lords Reform: A History

House of Lords Reform:
A History
The Origins to 1937:
Proposals Deferred
Book One: The Origins to 1911
Peter Raina
PETER LANG
Oxford · Bern · Berlin · Bruxelles · Frankfurt am Main · New York · Wien
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche National bibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Raina, Peter K., 1935-
House of Lords reform : a history / Peter Raina.
v .cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: v. 1. The origins to 1937: proposals deferred --
ISBN 978-3-0343-0749-9 (alk. paper)
1. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords--Reform. 2. Legislative
bodies--Great Britain--Reform. I. Title.
JN621.R35 2011
328.41’071--dc23
0 211024591
isbn 978-3-0343-0749-9 (print)
isbn 978-3-0353-0577-7 (eBook)
© Peter Lang AG, International Academic Publishers, Bern 2011
Hochfeldstrasse 32, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
[email protected], www.peterlang.com, www.peterlang.net
All rights reserved.
All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.
Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the
permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.
This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming,
and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.
Printed in Germany
For Halina

Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xxv
List of Illustrations xxvii
Chapter 1
The Evolution of the House of Lords: The origins to the Restoration 1
Chapter 2
Eighteenth Century Reforms: New peers 47
Chapter 3
The ‘New Nobility’ in the House of Lords: William Pitt 73
Chapter 4
The Reform Bill of 1832: The Lords’ opposition 79
Chapter 5
The Exclusion of Bishops from the House of Lords: 1834–1837 101
Chapter 6
Peerages for Life: The Wensleydale case, 1856 115
viii
Chapter 7
The Appellate Jurisdiction (House of Lords) Bill: 1856 145
Chapter 8
The Life Peerages Bill: Earl Russell, 1869 165
Chapter 9
The Spiritual Bill: 1870 187
Chapter 10
Bankruptcy Disqualification: 1871 193
Chapter 11
Ef ficiency of the House of Lords: The Earl of Rosebery, 1884 108
Chapter 12
Representative Government Resolution: Henry Labouchere, 1886 219
Chapter 13
A Select Committee to Inquire into the Lords’ Constitution:
The Earl of Rosebery, 1888 243
Chapter 14
An Inquiry into the Ef ficiency of the House:
Lord Stratheden and Campbell, 1888 281
Chapter 15
The Constitution Bill: The Earl of Dunraven, 1888 285
Chapter 16
The Life Peerage Bill: The Marquess of Salisbury, 1888 315