As firework displays illuminate the UK for Bonfire Night, a flat vellum page inscribed in exquisite calligraphy sits on a shelf at the National Archives in Kew. This document is the 1605 Thanksgiving Act, passed by King James I following the failure of Guy Fawkes to assassinate the monarch and members of Parliament. The act celebrated the "miraculous and gracious deliverance" of the Protestant church from what it termed "malignant and devilish papists," mandating annual church services on November 5 to commemorate the foiled Gunpowder Plot.
This historic legislation is among four million records recently transferred from the archives of Parliament to the National Archives, concluding a project that began five years ago. Dr. Graham Moore, an early modern parliament specialist at the institution, noted that these acts often feature flowery introductions explaining their rationale before detailing the legislation itself. He highlighted a passage describing King James I as being "enriched with most hopeful and plentiful progeny proceeding out of his royal loins," illustrating the ornate language used in the document.
The collection includes an incredibly well-preserved journal for the House of Commons, considered a precursor to Hansard. It contains a handwritten marginal entry dated November 5, 1605, by the Commons clerk describing the search of the Palace of Westminster cellars and the discovery of 36 barrels of gunpowder alongside Guy Fawkes. Another document in the transfer is a scroll titled "An Act of Attainder," which declared Fawkes and his co-conspirators guilty of treason and sentenced them to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Dr. Moore explained that these vellum documents often show physical evidence of their legislative journey, with small additions stitched on top or crossed-out text reflecting debates and edits.
The transfer from the Victoria Tower at the Palace of Westminster to the Kew repository added 16.5 linear kilometers of records to the existing 174.5 kilometers already housed there. The items are now fully catalogued, marked with individual registration barcodes, and available for the public to order and view free of charge in a facility better suited for long-term preservation. Among the diverse materials is a suffragette banner from October 28, 1908, which was secretly brought into the Ladies' Gallery. The record details how one activist dropped the banner into the chamber while two others chained themselves to the iron grille, shouting that they had been behind it for too long.
Beyond paper documents, the transfer included unusual items such as a piece of a gravestone, a sword, and a uniform. The largest document in the collection is the 1821 Land Tax Commissioners Act, recognized as the longest act in parliamentary archives. Inscribed on 757 vellum membranes, it totals 348 meters in length, equivalent to more than three football fields, and nominates 65,000 commissioners to collect revenue based on land valuations. Another significant piece is the Great Reform Act of 1832, which Dr. Joe Cozens, a specialist in 19th-century records, described as a crucial constitutional document that first admitted middle-class men in borough towns to the franchise.
The National Archives now holds a total of 20 million records, with one-third stored in deep storage at a facility in Cheshire. Chief Executive Saul Nassé stated that while the Palace of Westminster housed these records for decades, it was not designed with modern preservation standards in mind. With the addition of parliamentary records to those from the judiciary and government, the archive now houses all three arms of the British state in one location. Nassé emphasized that this consolidation offers the public greater access, asserting that there is no point in keeping records safe unless they are brought to life for people.
Sources: The Guardian World.