Thursday 5 March 2009

The Great Reform Act


(or more correctly The Representation of the People Act of 1832) was a piece of ground-breaking legislation which began to change the country's electoral system.

The National Archives' Learning Curve website has some original sources on political protest which helped the drive towards electoral reform. The British Library's recent exhibition, "Taking Liberties", on the fight for Britain's freedoms and rights, features the Act.

And of course, the National Library also has a new feature which includes this major event. Plans of 75 Scottish towns were published to implement the Act in Scotland, and you can now see them on our Map Library's
Great Reform Acts plans and reports website, which includes the House of Commons text accompanying each map.