2015: Parliament in the Making festival
In September 2015, Liverpool’s Richard Huzzey was one of three historians presenting research on petitions as part of the ‘2015: Parliament in the Making’ festival. An event in Parliament saw Richard discuss the ways in which British anti-slavery campaigners adapted and subverted parliamentary petitioning to pressure for first abolition of the slave trade and, later, emancipation of West Indian slaves. The talk drew upon research he is currently undertaking to trace local cultures of petitioning across the country.
The event was hosted by Helen Jones MP, the chair of the House of Commons Petitions Committee. Richard will be joined by two of his collaborators in the study of petitioning, Henry Miller (Manchester) and Malcolm Chase (Leeds), who will speak about campaigns including the suffragettes and Chartists.
As well as offering parliamentarians and the wider public an insight into histories of petitioning, the event offered an opportunity to learn about the new Petitions Committee and the House of Commons e-petitioning website. Already this summer, more than 300,000 Britons used the new website to petition Parliament in favour of accepting more refugees from Syria.
The entire programme for the Festival of Freedoms, which marks anniversaries including Magna Carta and the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster, can be viewed on Parliament’s website.
Dr Richard Huzzey