British History Online

Easier Annotation

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

We have now made our annotation tool easier to use. If a text is available for annotation you can still follow the old procedure, and click on "Comment on this article" at the top of the page. However it is now also possible to double click the text you wish to annotate with the left mouse button. Using this function inserts a hyperlink at the relevant point in the text, so that your annnotation will be more easily spotted by others. We therefore hope this change will improve the experience for readers, who will be alerted to the presence of an annotation for the piece of text they are reading. Note that once you have added an annotation you can view it and all of your other annotations in My account > View your annotations.

Calendar of Treasury Books now complete

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The Calendar of Treasury Books is now complete. These calendars detail state income and expenditure from the Restoration up to 1718, in 32 volumes. This series complements two others on BHO: the Calendar of Treasury Papers and the Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers.

Parliament Rolls of Medieval England now online

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Parliament Rolls of Medieval England are now available on British History Online, as part of the premium content section of the site. In this publication historians describe every parliament held between 1275 and 1504, that is those for the reigns of monarchs from Edward I to Henry VII. Where the rolls for the parliament survive, as happens for nearly all of the later parliaments, these are transcribed in full. Alongside this is presented a modern English translation of the original Latin, Anglo-Norman, or Middle English. A tabular format makes for easy comparison between the parallel texts. An appendix for each parliament details what is otherwise known of the business conducted there. Subscribers should be assured that this important enhancement to our premium content is added at no extra cost.

10 volumes of the Journal of the House of Lords

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

10 more volumes of the Journal of the House of Lords are now live. These new volumes cover the period 1718 to 1764, and thus the end of the reign of George I, the whole of that of George II, and the very beginning of the reign of George III. Four more volumes will be added to the site in the coming months.

New volumes for VCH Wiltshire

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Six new volumes for Wiltshire are now live. The addition of volumes 5, 7, 11 and 13-15 completes the published coverage of the parishes of the county.

Lincolnshire wills

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Transcribed wills for the historic county are now live. These three volumes, covering the period from 1271 to 1532, were originally published by the Lincoln Record Society between 1914 and 1930.

Suckling's History and Antiquities of Suffolk

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Volume 1 of Suckling's 'History and Antiquities' is now live. This is the first of the two volumes of the Reverend Suckling's projected History of the county that were completed in the 1840s. They describe three and a half hundreds in the north-east of the county. Volume 2 will be added in the next few weeks.

Calendar of State Papers, Colonial now complete

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

We have now added the final volume of the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial. This volume, number 45 in the series, deals with the year 1739.

New Timeline Function on BHO

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

We are pleased to announce a new monarchs timeline function for British History Online. This is a compact way of displaying all relevant series for a particular monarch; it will enable our users to see at a glance the periods covered by the given volumes in a series and, additionally, to drag the timeline forward and backwards in time. At the lowest level is a compressed timeline, divided into decades, with a representation of the density of coverage on BHO. In the main body of the timeline the reign is indicated by a red line, while the BHO volumes are shown as green lines. Click on any green line to get a summary of that volume's contents and a link directly to the volume. At the top some of the key events of the reign are shown as green boxes. Click on any box for more information about the event in question. To scroll simply drag the timeline. For example, to move forwards in time click on the timeline and drag to the left. Or use your mouse's scroll wheel to move back and forth. We plan to add more timelines in the future, but to see all of our current timelines go to our Periods page and choose a monarch.

Cecil Papers

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The Calendar of the Cecil Papers Preserved in Hatfield House is now live. These 24 volumes cover the papers of the leading political family of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. William Cecil, Lord Burghley, was chief advisor to Elizabeth I, and his son Robert was Secretary of State to both Elizabeth and James I. Unusually, these state papers have remained in the family archives at Hatfield House. Among other highlights, this calendar covers the Casket Letters attributed to Mary, Queen of Scots and material relating to the Gunpowder Plot.

Six Volumes of Papal Documents

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Six volumes of Papal documents are now live. These consist of Petitions to the Pope, the Calendar of Vatican Papers for the first part of the reign of Elizabeth I, and three volumes of the Papal Registers. The Registers are entries in the Vatican archives which relate to Great Britain and Ireland; more volumes in this series will be published online in the coming months.

New sources for the history of Norwich

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Volumes 3 and 4 of Blomefield's 'History of Norfolk' are now live. These two volumes give chronological and thematic accounts of the local history of the city.

Calendar of Papers Preserved in France

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The Calendar of Documents Preserved in France is now live. This volume consists of Record Commission transcripts of documents found mostly in Normandy, and dated up to 1206 (the end of English control of the region).

Calendar of State Papers, Spain

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The complete series of the Calendar of State Papers, Spain, is now live. These 19 volumes cover Spanish papers concerning relations with England for all the Tudor monarchs up to Elizabeth. The Elizabethan papers can be found in the complementary Simancas series which is already live on the site.

Calendar of Close Rolls complete

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The 62 volumes of this key series are now live. Covering three centuries from Henry III to Henry VII, they are a fundamental source for the history of medieval government. They are available as part of our premium content service.

Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The complete series of the Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations is now online. Covering the period 1704-1782, the journals provide many details of colonial administration.

Survey of London now complete

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Volumes 1 to 45 of the Survey are now all live. With the publication of volumes 6, 8, 9 and 12, we reach the culmination of our three-year partnership with English Heritage to digitise this essential source for London history.

The Survey of London on the Royal Opera House

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Volume 35 of the Survey of London is now live. It gives an account of the history and architecture of the Royal Opera House, and its predecessor, the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The complete series of the Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers is now live. As a result of a change in the original calendaring policy, the material hitherto calendared separately for the Treasury Papers and Treasury Books series, is united from 1729 onwards. As the editors say, the joint calendaring of the Treasury Books and Papers gives a more complete picture of the work of the Treasury from 1729 until the end of the series in 1745.

Calendar of Close Rolls

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The calendar for the reign of Edward II is now live. Offered as part of our premium content service, this is the latest stage in our publication of the complete Calendar for the period 1227 to 1509. Our premium content service also includes the complete Calendar of State Papers, Domestic series.