Bonfire Night Law Among 4 Million Records at UK Archives

The law that established the annual commemoration of the failed Gunpowder Plot is among four million parliamentary records transferred to the UK’s National Archives at Kew, south-west London. The historic collection includes the 1605 Thanksgiving Act, passed after Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators failed to assassinate King James I and destroy Parliament.

The transfer project, which began five years ago, has now been completed. The records have been catalogued, assigned individual registration barcodes and made available for members of the public to order and view free of charge.

1605 Thanksgiving Act Established November 5 Commemoration

The 1605 Thanksgiving Act was passed during the reign of King James I following the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to kill the king and members of both Houses of Parliament at the opening of Parliament that year.

The legislation described the failure of the plot as a “miraculous and gracious deliverance” of the Protestant church from the “malignant and devilish papists”. It directed churches to hold annual services on November 5 to commemorate the thwarted conspiracy.

The act is among several surviving documents connected to the plot. One particularly well-preserved House of Commons journal, regarded as a precursor to Hansard, contains a handwritten entry dated November 5, 1605. Added by the Commons clerk, it records the search of the Palace of Westminster cellars and the discovery of 36 barrels of gunpowder alongside Guy Fawkes.

Another document, titled “An Act of Attainder of divers Offenders in the late most barbarous, monstrous, detestable and damnable Treasons”, declared Fawkes and his fellow conspirators guilty of treason. It prescribed that they be hanged, drawn and quartered.

Historic Documents Reveal How Parliamentary Laws Were Drafted

The collection also offers insight into how legislation was prepared and amended before becoming law. Documents preserved on vellum contain handwritten additions, crossings-out and sections stitched onto the original material, showing changes made during parliamentary debate.

Dr Graham Moore, an early modern parliament specialist at the National Archives, explained that historic acts often began with elaborate passages setting out the reasons for introducing the legislation before moving on to its legal provisions.

He highlighted the Thanksgiving Act’s description of James I, which praised him as the “most great learned religious King that ever reigned therein” and referred to the “most hopeful and plentiful progeny proceeding out of his royal loins”.

Four Million Records Moved From Parliament to Kew

The transfer involved moving parliamentary archives from their historic home in Victoria Tower at the Palace of Westminster to the National Archives’ repository at Kew. The project added 16.5 linear kilometres of records to the 174.5 linear kilometres of documents already held there.

The records are now fully catalogued and individually marked, allowing members of the public to request and examine them free of charge. The new location also provides facilities better suited to their long-term preservation.

Among the transferred material is a suffragette banner dated October 28, 1908. It was secretly taken into the Ladies’ Gallery of the House of Commons. During the protest, one suffragette dropped the banner into the chamber while two others chained themselves to the gallery’s iron grille and shouted: “We have been behind this insulting grille for too long.” The grille had to be removed while the women were still attached.

The collection is not limited to paper records. It also includes unusual historical objects such as a piece of a gravestone, a sword and a uniform.

Longest Parliamentary Act Measures 348 Metres

One of the collection’s most remarkable documents is the 1821 Land Tax Commissioners Act, described as the longest act in the archives of Parliament. It appointed 65,000 commissioners to collect revenue based on land valuations.

Written across 757 vellum membranes, the act measures 348 metres in length, making it longer than three football fields.

Another significant document is the Great Reform Act of 1832. Dr Joe Cozens, a 19th-century parliamentary records specialist at the National Archives, described it as an important constitutional measure that extended voting rights for the first time to middle-class men in borough towns. He called it an early step towards modern democracy.

National Archives Now Holds 20 Million Records

With the addition of Parliament’s collection, the National Archives is responsible for around 20 million records. Approximately one-third are held in deep storage at a facility in Cheshire.

Chief executive Saul Nassé said the Palace of Westminster had housed parliamentary archives for many decades but was not designed to meet modern preservation standards.

He described bringing records from the judiciary, government and Parliament together at the National Archives as significant, bringing the three arms of the British state into one location.

Nassé said the completed transfer would give the public greater access to the country’s documentary history. He emphasised that preserving records also means finding ways to make them accessible and meaningful to people.