102. Aristocrats in pursuit of reform

102. Aristocrats in pursuit of reform

Just who were these Whigs? It turns out that, though theirs would be a government having to undertake reform, in its make-up it would be the most aristocratic of the century. Since the biggest obstacle to reform were the aristocrats and their acolytes, that was a tad ironic.

The problem was that the pressure to do something about the condition of the poor was becoming irresistible. And there was increasing awareness that if change was needed, it now had to come from Parliament. Royal power was continuing to fade as Parliament’s grew.

That just made it all the more urgent to get some kind of voice there.


Illustration: Sir George Hayter, The House of Commons, 1833, during Earl Grey’s Government. National Portrait Gallery 54

Music: Bach Partita #2c by J Bu licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License

Jaksot(275)

18. First Civil War: the fight gets going

18. First Civil War: the fight gets going

Oh dear, oh dear. Charles I pushed and pushed. Eventually, the other side pushed back. First it was the Scots, who turned out to be a lot better at fighting than Charles had imagined, and gave him a c...

12 Helmi 202113min

17. Things fall apart

17. Things fall apart

Charles I, like his father, proved extremely good at not being at all good at getting on with people he really needed to be really good at getting on side. Just like with his Dad, that mainly meant Pa...

7 Helmi 202110min

16. Slippery Slope

16. Slippery Slope

Charles I started his reign in just the way he'd go on with it, and in just the way his father James I/VI had ended his: by getting right up the noses of most of his subjects in Scotland as well as En...

2 Helmi 20218min

15. Bad to Worse

15. Bad to Worse

The end of James Stuart's reign over Scotland and England was no more impressive than the earlier part. One of the wonderful, crazy and ultimately futile episodes was the 'Spanish Match', involving th...

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14. Reckless Romanticism, a Touch of Gayness, and Bonfires

14. Reckless Romanticism, a Touch of Gayness, and Bonfires

The marriage of James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, to Anne of Denmark started off with some romanticism, including a dangerous sea crossing to fetch her home, and it certainly produced a ...

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13. Wise Fool

13. Wise Fool

James I of England (VI of Scotland) had clear ideas of what kingship meant. It meant he'd been chosen by God to run the show and Parliament wasn't going to get in his way. The trouble was, Parliament ...

18 Tammi 20219min

12. Hunting and Hanging

12. Hunting and Hanging

Boy, did it take a long time for James VI of Scotland to get from his proclamation as King of England, down to London to take the throne as James I. Partly that was because he had other things to do o...

13 Tammi 20217min

11. Transition

11. Transition

With no children of her own, what had Elizabeth I done to guarantee a smooth succession after her death? The answer is precious little. Which meant there had to be some clever footwork by her Chief Mi...

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