Guide: British Parliamentary Papers

This guide is intended to assist users of  British parliamentary papers.  Parliamentary papers consist of debates, journals, and sessional papers, all of which are included in this guide.

 

The initial section provides highlights of electronic access for IU Bloomington users, beginning  in reverse chronological order.  Electronic access provides a mix of full text and indexing.

 

Many print and microprint publications are being re-located to ALF during fall semester 2011 and spring semester 2012.  Consult IUCAT for the most complete holdings information.

 

Please consult the government information experts in ET2 of the Wells Library for additional information, or email libgpd@indiana.edu.

 

Electronic Access Highlights

21st Century -- the present

UK Parliament (general site)

House of Commons

House of Commons Publications on the Internet

House of Lords

House of Lords Publications on the Internet

15th - 20th Century

Full text access is available to the 20th century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers , 1688-2004.  This resource is available to authorized users on and off campus.

http://www.libraries.iub.edu/scripts/countResources.php?resourceId=7231724

19th and 20th Century 

C19:  The Nineteenth Century Index, 1801-1919 contains indexing to official publications and the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers.  AVAILABLE TO AUTHORIZED IU BLOOMINGTON USERS (on or off campus).

http://c19index.chadwyck.com/home.do

Index to the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers on CD-ROM, 1801-1990. AVAILABLE ONLY ON IN-LIBRARY WORKSTATIONS.

http://www.libraries.iub.edu/scripts/countResources.php?resourceId=121

18th Century

The online full text source, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, which contains searchable electronic versions of every book published in Great Britain in the 18th century, can also be helpful.

http://www.libraries.iub.edu/scripts/countResources.php?resourceId=829698.

Contents of this Guide

Electronic Access Highlights (above) 

Introductory Sources
Types of Parliamentary Papers
Debates
Journals
Sessional Papers
Command Papers
Bills
Reports
For Further Study
General Indexes

Additional Guides

Introductory Sources

British Governmental Websites

The website of the United Kingdom Parliament is a convenient and up-to-date source of information. It explains Parliament's workings, and provides links to texts of documents such as recent debates, reports, the Commons' Weekly Information Bulletin, and some current bills.
UK Parliament (general site) House of Commons
House of Commons Publications on the Internet
House of Lords
House of Lords Publications on the Internet

Indexes to British Parliamentary Papers

In addition to the indexes highlighted above, there are numerous print indexes covering various time periods. (See the General Indexes section below.) If you are searching for a particular item or know the year(s) you must search, many publications have indexes at the end of each session (Sessional Indexes). Indexes may also be cumulated periodically to cover a range of years. Some older volumes may lack sessional or volume indexes, but indexing tends to improve over time.

TYPES OF PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS

Debates

Often termed Hansard, debates are an official record of what is said in Parliament. Prior to 1909, the debates were typically derived from secondary reports (in both the third and first person), and are not as accurate as present-day debates, which are largely verbatim and in the first person. Since 1803, the debates have been printed in several series, as outlined below:

Series	Dates
First	1803-1820
Second	1820-1830
Third	1830-1891
Fourth	1892-1908
Fifth (Lords)	1909-present
Fifth (Commons)	1909-March 13, 1981
Sixth (Commons only)	March 16, 1981-present


Commons and Lords debates were published together until 1909, when they were separated. For early time periods, the library holds various texts that were compiled by individuals.  Some publications include debates of both Houses; others focus on only one House. Beginning in 1909, the debates began to be published by the government, and were give the term "Official Report".



House of Commons Debates

Series	Volumes	Dates	Format	Shelving Location
Cobbett	Cobbett v.1-41	1066-1803 1803-1820	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link [vol. 1-12 -- 1066-1743] For Holdings, See IUCAT Link [vol. 13-36 -- 1743-1803] For Holdings, See IUCAT Link  [vol. 1-22 -- 1803-1812]
Torbuck	v.1-21	1668-1742	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
Almon	v. 1-5, 7, 9-11	1743-1774	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link For Holdings, See IUCAT Link [electronic resource]
Almon, Debrett	v. 1-72?	1774-1799 1774-1803 1775-1804	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link For Holdings, See IUCAT Link [electronic resource]
Chandler	v. 1-11, 13, 14	1660-1743	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link For Holdings, See IUCAT Link [electronic resource]
Grey	v.1-10	1667-1694	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link For Holdings, See IUCAT Link [electronic resource]
First (Hansard)	v.23-41	1812-1820	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
Second (Hansard)	v.1	1820	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
	v.2-20	1820-1829		For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
Third (Hansard)	v.1-30,335,336	1830-1835; 1889	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
	v.31-334; 337-356	1836-1891		For Holdings, See IUCAT Link For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
Fourth (Hansard)	v.1-199	1892-1908	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
Fifth (Hansard)	v.1-318	1909-1936	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
	v.395-1000	1943-1981		For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
Sixth (Hansard)	v.1-85	1981-1985	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
	v.86-present	1985/86-present	Microfiche	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
	v.142-present [earlier records being added]	Nov. 1988-present [earlier records being added]	Internet	Hansard

House of Lords Debates

Note: House of Lords debates prior to 1909 were published with the House of Commons debates.  They can be found in the following series, listed above: Cobbett, Torbuck, Almon and Debrett, and the first through fourth Hansard series.  The publications below include only House of Lords debates.

Series	Volumes	Dates	Format	Location
Timberland	v. 1-8	1660-1742	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
Fifth (Hansard)	v.1-129 v. 130-467	1909-1942 1943-1984/85	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
	v.468-705	1985-present	Microfiche	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
	v.559-present	Nov. 1994-present [earlier records continually added]	Internet	Hansard




Indexes of Debates

For print volumes, both Houses' Debates have speaker and subject indexes for each session. Typically, the Commons Debates contain an index within each volume, as well as a separate index for each session. The Lords Debates tend to cumulate sessional indexes as a session progresses. These indexes are not separate volumes. In microfiche format, an index may be found at the end of each session.



The UK Parliament Publications Database contains Commons debates from 1988 to the present, and Lords debates from 1994 to the preset. Note that older debates are continually added to the database, so the coverage is expanding.




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Journals


Journals are the official record of what is done in Parliament. They outline proceedings (not the words spoken in session) and are related in content to the Commons' Votes and Proceedings and the Lords' Minutes of Proceedings. Written in a formal style that reflects parliamentary tradition, the Journals are used as references about procedure and precedence. Since the House of Lords does not follow the Commons' practice of referring bills to standing committee, the Lords Journals tend to give more information regarding amendments and results of debates than do the Commons.



Journals of the House of Commons

Volumes	Dates	Format	Location
v.1-v.22, v.25-v.74,v.104,v.106, v.108-v.110, v.112-v.134,[actual holdings]	1547-1607, 1640-1737,  1745-1819, 1821-1847, 1849-1855, 1857-1885,	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
v.1-v.22, v.25, v. 26,  v.28-v.104,v.106, v. 108-134, 137-140	1547/1628-1772/1774, 1776/1778-1854/1855,  1857-1884/1885
v.1-155	1547-1900, plus indexes 1547, 1628-1900 1547-1628, 1640-1900 [PI]	Microcards	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
[Elizabethan Parliaments]	1558-1603	Microfilm	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
v.241-v.256 v.241-242,244-252	1984/85-present [1984/85-1999/2000]	Microfiche	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link




Journals of the House of Lords

Volumes	Dates	Format	Location
v.1-16, 22, 24-45, Calendar, Index	1509-1614, 1620-1646, 1660-1680, 1685-1701, 1718-1726, 1731-1804, Calendar, [1508-1808] and Index  (1883-1863) [actual holdings] 1509-1614, 1620-1648, 1660-1680,  1685-1701, 1705-1709, 1718-1806, Calendar for 1509-1808, Index for 1833-1863 1509-1614, 1620-1648, 1660-1681?, 1685-1701, 1705-179?, 1796-1806, Calendar for 1509-1808, Index for 1833-1863[PI]	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link




Journals Indexes


Most printed Commons Journals have indexes. Periodic cumulative indexes are shelved after the last session covered. For microfiche, an index is included at the end of each session. The Lords' Journals have periodic cumulative indexes. 





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Sessional Papers

Beginning in 1801, the papers for each House of Commons (HC) session have been bound into volumes known as the sessional papers. These papers include the various document types outlined in the chart below.  The documents are included in the library's indexes to British Parliamentary papers. 



Document Group	Document Type	Series Name
Bills	Public Bills	HC Bills
Reports from Committees	Reports from parliamentary committees	HC Papers
Reports from Commissioners	Reports from non-parliamentary committees, commissions, etc.	Command Papers; HC Papers if presented by Act
Accounts and Papers	Accounts, Estimates, 'White Papers', State papers, Treaties, Returns	HC Papers and Command Papers


More information about Command Papers, Bills, and Reports from Committees may be found below, as well as in the General Alphabetical Index to the Bills, Reports and Papers printed by Order of the House of Commons and to the Reports and Papers presented by Command, 1959-60 to 1968-69. 

After 1801, the sessional papers and indexes were arranged such that references were given to sessional volume and page number. Beginning in 1979/80, however, the publication format was altered and overall pagination was eliminated. Consequently, you need only the session and document number to locate a given paper. (For more information about this change, see the forward to the Sessional Index for 1979-80)

In 1922, many reports and papers began to be printed as non-parliamentary publications of the government printing office, HMSO, due to financial constraints.  If you are searching for papers about a particular subject from 1922 to the present, do not limit your search to parliamentary papers alone. 



Sessional Papers -- House of Commons

Prior to 1801, the Commons Journal included not only the House proceedings, but also various reports. During the early 1800s, these reports were printed as appendices. In 1835, they began to be printed as separate publications. Therefore, items that are presently found in the sessional papers may be located in the Journals for earlier dates.

Before the 20th century, many House of Lords papers were 'communicated' to the House of Commons, and subsequently printed with the Commons papers. Therefore, some older Lords documents can be found in Commons publications.

A note on the microfiche sets: The HC Parliamentary Papers set contains documents that are similar to the later HC Sessional Papers set. The fiche in the two series are produced by separate vendors who organized the papers differently. In the HC Parliamentary Papers set (1801-1975), the bills, command papers, and sessional papers for each session are grouped together. In the Sessional Papers microfiche set (1979- present), bills, command papers, and HC papers are separated into different groups, each with its own call number.



Item	Dates	Format	Location
HC Sessional Papers	1731-1800; 1948-1978/79	Microcard	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
HC Journals	pre-1801	(Format and Location varies: see Journals section of this guide.)
HC Parliamentary Papers (i.e., Sessional Papers)	1801-1975/76, 1979/1980	Microfiche	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
HC Sessional Papers -HC Bills	1979/80-present 1994/1995-present 1972-1976[PI]	Microfiche	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
HC Sessional Papers- Command Papers	1979/80-present 1993/1994, pt.3--present	Microfiche	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
HC Sessional Papers -HC Papers	1979/80-present 1992/1993-present	Microfiche	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link




Sessional Papers -- House of Lords

Item	Dates	Format	Location
HL Sessional Papers	1685-1857, 1985/86-1997/98 1986/87-2001/2002	Microfiche	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
	1928-1948; 1964/65-1968/69, Select Committee Reports, 1978-1983/84	Print Volumes	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link
	1940/41-1975/76, 1978/79 [actual holdings] 1940-'48; 1950-'64; 1966-1976.  See notebook, also bills and reports [PI]	Microcard	For Holdings, See IUCAT Link





Sessional Papers -- Indexes

Bound volumes usually have sessional and cumulative indexes. For the recent House of Commons microfiche set (1979/80-1993/94), check the HC Sessional Index, ET2 LC Microfiche J301 .K76. In general, you may refer to the print and CD-ROM indexes (see General Indexes, below).



Sessional Papers -- Command Papers

Command papers are a special group of papers that originated as a distinct group during the 19th century. They do not originate from Parliament itself, but are presented to Parliament by governmental ministers. Including State papers such as treaties, they address issues on which the executive branch of government intends to act.

The numbering of Command papers is in several series:



Series	Papers	Dates
First series	[1]-[4222]	1833-1869
Second series	[C. 1]-[C. 9550]	1870-1899
Third series	[Cd. 1]-[Cd. 9239]	1900-1918
Fourth series	[Cmd.1]-Cmd. 9889	1919-1956
Fifth series	Cmnd. 1-	1956-



During the late 1800s, the House of Lords began eliminating the Command papers from its sessional papers. Beginning in 1900, the Command papers are found only in the House of Commons volumes. (Lords sessional indexes reference the Command papers until 1920.) To locate a Command paper number within the sessional volumes, use the following finding aids:


• Di Roma, E. and Rosenthal. A Numerical Finding List of British Command Papers Published 1833-1961/62. New York Public Library, 1967.
  
  
• McBride, E. British Command Papers: A Numerical Finding List 1962/63-1976/77. Emory General Libraries, 1982.
  
These books provide the session, volume, and starting page for each Command paper number within the given time period. For other time periods, use the electronic or print indexes listed in General Indexes below.



Sessional Papers -- Bills

Bills are pieces of proposed legislation that Parliament considers for passage. A summary of how bills pass through Parliament can be found at the House of Lords web site.

Bills may be located within the sessional papers, where they typically fall first in the arrangement of papers for each session. (See Sessional Papers, above.)

Some official Internet resources that cover the past few sessions of Parliament include:



Item	Coverage
Public Bills now before Parliament	Current
Weekly Information Bulletin (includes information about bills)	Current session
Acts (Bills that have passed through Parliament, received Royal Assent, and become law)	1988-present (Public Acts) 1991-present (Local Acts)




Sessional Papers -- Reports from Committees

Parliament has a number of committees (small numbers of MOP's that are appointed to deal with particular areas or issues).  Below is a brief outline of the parliamentary committees.





• Standing committees are appointed by the Commons to consider and debate certain bills. Membership changes with each piece of legislation.
• Select committees have a more investigative function. Typically, they are appointed for an entire session, inquire into a given subject, and report their findings.
  
  Select committees that are re-appointed each session are called Sessional Committees
  Commons and Lords Select Committees may join to form a Joint Committee.
  
  Reports from Committees may be found in the sessional papers (see above). Some recent Select Committee and Joint Committee reports (dating from 1996 onward) may be found on the Web:
  
  House of Commons- Select Committee publications
  House of Lords- Select Committee publications
  
  The library also holds a set of papers, Reports from Committees of the House of Commons, 1715-1801, printed but not inserted in the Journals of the House, 1803.(ET2 Secure Area a5551982). An index to these volumes is located in the ET2 Foreign section; see General Indexes. Additionally, the Lilly Library has some 19th and early 20th century reports of various committees, commissioners, and commissions. Check with staff for details.)


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RESOURCES FOR FURTHER STUDY

• The Parliamentary History of England from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803, from which Last-Mentioned Epoch it is Continued Downwards in the Work Entitles "Hansard's Parliamentary Debates".  T.C. Hansard.  1806-1820.
  
  
• The Parliamentary or Constitutional History of England, from the Earliest Times, to the Restoration of King Charles II: Collected from the Records, the Rolls of Parliament, the Journals of Both Houses, the Public Libraries, Original Manuscripts, Scarce Speeches, and Tracts. J and R. Tonson and A. Millar, 1761-1763.
  
  
• The History of the British Parliament on CD-ROM. Cambridge University Press, 1998. ET2-Comp Disc.




GENERAL INDEXES

Before 1800s:

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. Indexing and full text of the British House of Commons Parliamentary Papers from the 1688-2004.

 

• Ford, G. Select List of Reports and Other Papers in Journals of the House of Commons 1688-1800. KTO, 1976.
  
  
• Hansard's Catalogue and Breviate of Parliamentary Papers, 1696-1834. Basil Blackwell, 1953.
  
  
• General Index to the Reports from Committees of the House of Commons, 1715-1801, printed but not inserted in the Journals of the House, 1803. Chadwyck-Healey, 1973.
  
  

• Catalogue of Papers printed by order of the House of Commons, 1731-1800. HMSO, [1807].
  




1800s:

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. Indexing and full text of the British House of Commons Parliamentary Papers from the 1688-2004.

 

• Index to the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers on CD-ROM. Available at public workstations at any IUB Library. http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=400&resourceId=121
  
  
• Cockton, P. Subject Catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 1801-1900. (5 vols.) Chadwyck-Healey, 1988.
  
  
• General Index to the Reports of Select Committees Printed by Order of the House of Commons, 1801-1852; General Index to Accounts and Papers Printed by Order of the House of Commons, and to the Papers Presented by Command, 1801-1852. Vols. 2 and 3 of British Parliamentary Papers series, Irish Univ. Press, 1968.
  
  
• A General Index to the Sessional Papers Printed by Order of the House of Lords or Presented by Special Command -- 1801-1859;  1859-1870;  1871-1885. (3 vols.) HMSO, 1938, 1872, 1890.
  
  
• Adam, M., J. Ewing, and J. Munro. Guide to the Principal Parliamentary Papers Relating to the Dominions, 1812-1911. Oliver and Boyd, 1913.
  
  
• Ford, P., and G. Ford. Select List of British Parliamentary Papers, 1833-1899. Basil Blackwell, 1953.
  
  
• Di Roma, E. and Rosenthal. A Numerical Finding List of British Command Papers Published 1833-1961/62. New York Public Library, 1967.
  
  
• General Alphabetical Index to the Bills, Reports, Estimates, Accounts, and Papers, Printed by Order of the House of Commons, and to the Papers Presented by Command, 1852-1899. (3 vols.) HMSO, 1909.
  



1900-present:

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. Indexing and full text of the British House of Commons Parliamentary Papers from the 1688-2004.

 

• Index to the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers on CD-ROM. 1801-present. Available at public workstations at any IUB Library. http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=400&resourceId=121
  
  
• Di Roma, E. and Rosenthal. A Numerical Finding List of British Command Papers Published 1833-1961/62. New York Public Library, 1967.
  
  
• Cole, A. H. A Finding List of Royal Commission Reports in the British Dominions. Harvard Univ. Press, 1939. (Covers the 19th century and early 20th century.)
  
  
• General Index to the Bills, Reports and Papers Printed by Order of the House of Commons and to the Reports and Papers Presented by Command, 1900 to 1948-49. HMSO, 1960.
  
  
• Rodgers, F. Serial Publications in the British Parliamentary Papers, 1900-1968. ALA, 1971.
  
  
• Ford, P., G. Ford, and D. Marshallsay. Select List of British Parliamentary Papers, 1955-1964. Irish Univ. Press, 1970.
  
  
• General Alphabetical Index to the Bills, Reports and Papers Printed by Order of the House of Commons and to the Reports and Papers Presented by Command, 1959-60 to 1968-69. HMSO, 1975.
  
  
• McBride, E. British Command Papers: A Numerical Finding List 1962/63-1976/77. Emory General Libraries, 1982.
  
  

• British Parliamentary Papers Index on CD-ROM. 1990-present. Available at public workstations at any IUB Library. http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=400&resourceId=118




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ADDITIONAL GUIDES

The background material is this guide is drawn from the following books, which address Parliament and its publications in greater detail.





• Ford, P. and G. Ford. A Guide to Parliamentary Papers. Irish Univ. Press, 1972.

  
  
• Olle, J. G. An Introduction to British Government Publications. Assoc. of Assistant Librarians, 1973.
  
  
• Pemberton, J. E. British Official Publications. Pergamon Press, 1973.
  
  
• Rodgers, F. A Guide to British Government Publications. H. W. Wilson, 1980. (Includes a glossary of relevant terms.)
  
  

• Vandercook, S. A Guide to British Documents and Records in the University of Virginia Library. Univ. of Virginia Library, 1972.




If you have comments or questions about this guide, please contact the reference staff at the service desk in Wells Library East Tower 2 (ET2). Extensive collections of parliamentary papers from Ireland, France, and Germany are also available.




LH 11/11/11




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