Voting Records of the British House of Commons, 1761-1820

Historians have been hampered by the absence of hard evidence on how MPs voted before 1836, when official records began.

This has been a serious obstacle to the understanding of political decision-making in a key period of British history which saw the birth of the British Empire and the Industrial Revolution.

However, from 1761 enough records survive to constitute an important statistical archive. "Voting Records of the British House of Commons, 1761-1820" makes available for the first time a unique compilation of accurate voting records: an indispensible resource for parliamentary history.

It details over 60,000 votes cast by more than 3,000 MPs during 12 parliaments, compiled from 597 unofficial division lists, many previously unknown.

The data is of a high standard of accuracy, with lists being checked and cross-checked against all other available data.

This set of books provides a key to the understanding of a full range of parliamentary behaviour.

It elucidates not only national and special interests. It clarifies voting patterns and changes in allegiances as well as providing details of the personal votes of both leading politicians and backbenchers, including those famous in other spheres, such as David Ricardo and Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Volume 1 is a handlist of divisions, with descriptive statistics and a list of sources for each division included in the database.

Volumes 2 to 4 list all votes biographically in alphabetical order.

Volumes 5 and 6 list all votes chronologically by division, with MPs listed alphabetically within each division.