abdication Crisis
Overview page. Subjects: British history — contemporary history (post 1945).
The constitutional crisis, resulting from the king of England's determination to marry a divorced woman, Wallis Simpson, which culminated in the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936.
Aberdeen, cathedrals
Overview page. Subjects: British history.
St Machar's cathedral, built on the site of a church founded by one of St Columba's disciples (c.580), was rebuilt in granite after destruction by Edward III in 1336. Alternately under presbyterian...
Aberfan disaster
Overview page. Subjects: British history.
On 21 October 1966 an avalanche of sludge from a coal tip buried the primary school of this south Wales village, causing the loss of 144 lives, mostly young children. The subsequent inquiry blamed...
Abraham Darby
Overview page. Subjects: decorative arts — British history.
(1677–1717).
The founder of the great Shropshire iron industry, using local supplies of coal and iron. He was born in Worcestershire of a quaker family, apprenticed in Birmingham, and set up as a...
Act in Restraint of Appeals
Overview page. Subjects: British history.
(1533).
The Act (24 Hen. VIII c. 12), largely the work of Thomas Cromwell, was a crucial step in Henry VIII's assertion of royal supremacy. He had already moved against the clergy with accusations of...
Act of Indemnity and Oblivion
Overview page. Subjects: British history.
1660.
Restorations after long exiles usually disappoint the loyalists since there are so many claims to be rewarded. In the declaration of Breda, Charles II had promised a general amnesty and the Act...
Act of Security
Overview page. Subjects: British history.
1704.
The Scottish Act of Security was, paradoxically, an important step towards Union. After the failure of the Darien scheme in 1700, the Scots were bitter towards England. The Scottish Parliament...
Act of Settlement
Overview page. Subjects: British history.
A statute of 1701 that vested the British Crown in Sophia of Hanover (granddaughter of James I of England and VI of Scotland) and her Protestant heirs, so excluding Roman Catholics, including the...
Acts in Restraint of Annates
Overview page. Subjects: British history.
1532, 1534.
These formed part of the campaign by Henry VIII to cajole the papacy into granting an annulment of the king's first marriage, or to give statutory authority for the English church to act...
Acts of Parliament
Overview page. Subjects: British history.
The procedure whereby a bill becomes an Act of Parliament is lengthy and has evolved over many centuries. The main stages of a bill in the House of Commons are first reading, second reading,...