Subject Guide
Introduction
This guide is meant for those beginning research in British Parliamentary Papers. It focuses on Shannon Library's 19th and 20th century holdings and lists indexes and finding aids for each of the three categories listed below.
- Sessional (or Parliamentary) papers are the working documents of each session of Parliament and can be divided into three types: Bills, Reports and Command Papers.
- Journals record the proceedings and decisions made in each house. Journals have been printed for each session of Parliament since 1509 for the Lords (preceded by the Rolls of Parliament) and since 1547 for the Commons (except for the period 1584-1601).
- Debates are the record of the actual discussion on the floors of both houses.
- See a list of selected British documents in microform available at Shannon Library
- See also which Parliamentary Papers are currently available online for free and for payment.
Indexes & Finding Aids at UVA Libraries
Note: Indexes and finding aids are also listed in the individual pages of this research guide.
- A guide to British documents and records in the University of Virginia Libraryby Sharon Vandercook. Covers holdings, indexes and finding aids at UVA for British documents (not just Parliamentary Papers).
- British government publications : an index to chairmen and authors, 1900-1940compiled by Stephen Richard. 4 volumes.
- Subject catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary papers, 1801-19005 volumes. Covers all papers printed in the House of Commons bound set, by subject. For example, Defence, The Slave Trade, and Foreign Affairs are three of the subjects covered in volume V. A keyword index is provided at back of each volume.
- British parliamentary papers. House of Commons sessional papersSee separate index for each session and volume (e.g. 1868/69, volume 35) at the beginning of the fiche group for each session/volume. NOTE: the drawers that contain Micfich S-424 are labelled by years only.
- Irish University Press Series of Parliamentary PapersA huge selection (1000 volumes) of 19th century papers, arranged by topic. Note: UVA has only a portion of this set.
- British historical statisticsProvides statistical information compiled from British Parliamentary Papers and other sources. "Originally published in 1988, this reference book provides the major economic and social statistical series for the British Isles from the twelfth century up until 1981. It is the successor of Abstract of British Historical Statistics and the Second Abstract of British Historical Statistics."