FINDING BRITISH SESSIONAL PAPERS AND PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES IN OLIN LIBRARY Originally compiled by Caroline Spicer, Reference Department

GUIDES TO PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS

A Bibliography of Parlimentary Debates of Great Britain. House of Commons Library Document No. 2. London: H. M. S. O., 1956. Olin Ref JN 500 .A22 no. 2)
A excellent brief guide to "the spoken proceedings of Parliament." [Foreword] Worth consulting for evaluation of parallel sources.

Bond, Maurice. Guide to the Records of Parliament. London: H. M. S. O., 1971. (Olin Ref Z 2009 .B71)

Debates and Proceedings of the British Parliaments: A Guide to Printed Sources.. House of Commons Library Document No. 16. London: H. M. S. O., 1986. Olin Ref JN 500 .A22 no. 16)
A more detailed guide than the Bibliography above.

Rodgers, Frank. Guide to British Government Publications. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1980. (Olin Ref Z 2009 .R69 G9 1980).

Wilding, Norman L. An Encyclopaedia of Parliament. London: Cassell, 1972. 4th revised ed. (Olin Ref JN 555 .W67 1972).
Information on the history and structure of the institution.

BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES

Dates Covered	House of Commons Debates - Text	Call number
1066-1802	Parliamentary History of England. (aka Cobbett) (Retrospective cumulation in 36 vols.)	Kroch Rare & Manucripts J 301 .H2; stored at Library Annex. Can request online, but accessible only in RMC.
parallel coverage for 1667-1694	Grey's Debates of the House of Commons	British History Online
parallel coverage for 1668-1739	A Collection of the Parliamentary Debates in England.... (aka Torbuck's Debates)	In Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
parallel coverage for 1743-1774	The History, Debates, and Proceedings of both Houses of Parliament of Great Britain from the Year 1743 to the year 1774.... (aka Almon's/Debrett's reissue of Almon's) (7 vols.)	Kroch Rare & Manucripts J 301 .H28; stored at Library Annex. Can request online, but accessible only in RMC.
parallel coverage for 1775-1796	The Parliamentary Register; or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the [House of Lords and House of Commons],.... (aka Almon's) (71 vols.)	Kroch Rare & Manucripts J 301 .H195 [sic, .H192 on spine]; stored at Library Annex. Can request online, but accessible only in RMC.
1803-1850	Parliamentary Debates. (aka Hansard) (Bound sessional cumulations)	Kroch Rare & Manuscripts J 301 .H22 (Request in advance through Kroch RMC)
1851-1908	Parliamentary Debates. (aka Hansard) (Bound sessional cumulations)	Olin J 301 .H22 [shelved in B52 Olin]
parallel coverage for 1828-1840	Mirror of Parliament. (alternative source of debate text)	Olin J 301 .H18 ++ Closed Stacks, ask at Circulation
1909 - present	Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports. Bound sessional cumulations; no paper updates. Indexed in last vol(s) of session.	Olin J 301 .H23 [shelved in B52 Olin]
December 2000 - present	Hansard [House of Commons Daily Debates]; full-text of the Daily Debates is available on the Internet	Internet
	Indexes
1830-1908	General Index. Last vol(s) of session. Cumulative volume, 1803-1830.	Olin Ref J 301 .H22
	Calendars:
1983/84 - present	Sessional Information Digest.	Olin Ref J 301 .H235 Electronic version [1995/96 - present]
1977/78 - present	Weekly Information Bulletin.	Olin Ref J 301 .K85 (Last vol in Ref) Electronic version [10/19/1996 - present]
1990/91 - present	British Parliamentary Papers Index: BPP. CD-ROM in Olin Electronic Text Center	Olin Ref Disk J 301 .H6

Links to House of Commons publications on the Internet [including debates, bills, agends, committee publications]

SESSIONAL PAPERS

What are Sessional Papers? Sessional Papers are documents printed for the Parliament and include Public Bills; Private Bills; Reports from Committees; Reports from Commissioners; and Accounts and Papers (including Command Papers).

18th Century

Dates Covered	Sessional Papers - Text	Call number
1715 - 1800	House of Commons Sessional Papers of the Eighteenth Century. (Lambert) 145 vols. Contains documents not in Readex microprint set (below)	Olin J 301 .K625x 1975 ++
1714 - 1800	House of Lords Sessional Papers. (Torrington) 60 vols. through 1805	Olin J 301 .J2x 1972 ++
1731 - 1800	British Sessional Papers. House of Commons. Eighteenth Century. (Readex microprint set)	Lower Level, Uncataloged [B52] For access, ask at the Media Center Help Desk.
	Indexes
	Hansard's Catalogue and Breviate ... 1696-1834.	Olin Ref J 301 .K61 ++
	Catalogue of Papers ... 1731-1800.	Olin Ref J 301 .K6 ++
	Lists
	List of House of Commons Sessional Papers. 1701-1750. (Ed. by Sheila Lambert)	Olin Ref CD 1042 .A2 L56 v.1 ++
	House of Commons Papers of the Eighteenth Century [1715-1800] (Ed. by Sheila Lambert) 2 vols.	Olin Ref J 301 .K645 ++

19th Century

Dates Covered	Sessional Papers - Text	Call number
1801 - 1900	British Sessional Papers. House of Commons. Nineteenth Century. (Readex microprint set)	Lower Level Uncataloged [B52 Olin] For access, ask at the Media Center Help Desk
1801 - 1805	House of Lords Sessional Papers.	Olin J 301 .J2x 1972 ++
1806 - 1859	Information note: House of Lords Sessional Papers. Microfilm set published by Oceana, 1974, 546 reels.	Not owned; use ILL. To determine the reel to request, use the online copy of the index to this microfilm set, Lords Papers, 1806-1859: Reel Guide and Checklist, available in the CRL catalog.
1847/48 - 1900	Sessional Papers. Bound volumes in sets for each session; some gaps in holdings, search Sessional Papers in Cornell Library Catalog for holdings.	G.B.C.P., Lower Level
1801 - 1900	Indexes
	Subject Catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. 1801 - 1900. (Cockton)	Olin Ref Z 2019 .C66
	Catalogue of Parliamentary Papers ... 1801-1900.	Olin Ref J 301 .M27 ++
	General Index to the Accounts and Papers ... 1801-1852.	Olin Ref J 301 .K63 ++
	House of Commons Papers: General Alphabetical Index. 1852-1899.	Olin Ref J 301 .K62 ++
	A General Index to the Sessional Papers [House of Lords]. 1801-1884/85. Plus reel guide to Oceana film set (not owned).	Olin Ref J 301 .J62x +
	Select List of British Parliamentary Papers. 1833-1899. (Ford)	Olin Ref J 301 M3+
	Individual Sessional Indexes, shelved at end of G.B.C.P.	G.B.C.P. (Uncataloged) Lower Level
1801 - 1900	Lists
	Numerical Finding List of British Command, Papers ... 1833-1961/62.	Olin Ref Z 2009 .D53 +
	Checklist of British Parliamentary Papers in the Irish University Press ... Series 1801-1899.	Olin Ref J 301 .M27 ++

20th Century

Dates Covered	Sessional Papers - Text	Call number
1900 - 1979/80	Sessional Papers. Bound volumes in sets for each session. Paper set cancelled. Continued by microfiche.	G.B.C.P., Lower Level
1980/81 to date	Parliamentary Papers. Chadwyck Healey microfiche set. Current, quarterly shipments.	Microfiche 454
1900 forward	Indexes
	General Index to Parliamentary Papers. 1900-1949.	Olin Ref J 301 .M3+
	Breviate of Parliamentary Papers. 1900-1983. (Ford)	Olin Ref J 301 .M34
	Individual Sessional Indexes, 1900-1978. Shelved at end of G.B.C.P.	G.B.C.P. (Uncataloged) Lower Level
	Sessional Index. 1978/79 to date.	Olin Ref J 301 .K4
	British Parliamentary Papers Index: BPP. 1990/91 to date. Compact Disk.	Olin Ref Disk J 301 .H6
1900 - 1978	Lists
	Numerical Finding List of British Command Papers ... 1833-1961/62.	Olin Ref Z 2009 .D53 +
	British Command Papers: A Numerical Finding List. 1962/63-1976/77	Olin Ref Z 2009 .D53 Suppl.
	Serial Publications in the British Parliamentary Papers 1900-1968.	Olin Ref Z 2009 .R69

INFORMATION ON FINDING AND USING SESSIONAL PAPERS

Holdings:

Papers for 1715-1800 (House of Commons) and 1714-1805 (House of Lords) are cataloged and available in double oversize (++) print sets edited by Lambert and Torrington respectively. Papers for 1847-1848 through 1979-80 are also in bound volumes (on the Lower Level labelled GBCP). Some years after 1847 in the 19th century are incomplete. The Readex microprint set is shelved in the vault (room B52) on the Olin Library Lower Level, and covers the House of Commons only 1731-1800 and 1801-1900 in two segments (set uncataloged). Ask Library staff for assistance in retrieving these. A microfiche set covers 1980 to the present (Fiche 454 - Olin Library Lower Level).

Finding papers in the volumes:

Use cumulative numerical lists: Numerical Finding List of British Command Papers Published 1833-1961/62. (Olin Ref Z 2009 .D53 +) and British Command Papers: A Numerical Finding List, 1962/63-1976/77. (Olin Ref Z 2009 .D53 Suppl.)

Or use sessional indexes: The last volume of each session contains a numerical list of first the bills, then the accounts and papers, and finally the command papers for the session. Each entry lists the volume number and page number for the bill, report, or paper wanted within that sessional set of volumes. Use the volume number to find the correct volume. Then use the table of contents at the beginning of each physical volume to find the paper wanted. Ignore the page number. Note that the sessional indexes are shelved at the very end of all the GBCP volumes. The numerical lists are followed by a broad subject index.

Date:

Volumes cover a session of Commons which may be for a single calendar year only, or may run across two years (except a single cumulation of 1914-1916). The volumes will then be labelled accordingly, e.g.,

1928 (50 vols.)

1928-1929 (51 vols.)

Volume number:

The Roman numeral is the key number for location and appears on the spine of each volume. It is found in most of the cumulative indexes in the Reference reading room and in all of the sessional indexes (Lower Level, G.B.C.P.). Note: The Roman numeral sometimes is in lower case type and therefore inconspicuous. The Arabic numeral following the volume number is not useful since it represents pagination in a bound set in the Parliament Library.

lxvi 293 = Volume lxvi of the cited session. Forget p.293.

Volume labels:

Spine labels vary over time. Many volumes have a label at the top of the spine reading:

G.B.C.P. 1902: 46 = Volume LXVI of the 1902 session.

G.B.C.P. = Great Britain Command Papers

Older volumes lack these labels. The session date is on the bottom of the spine and the roman volume numeral is just below midspine.

Colored spine labels were sometimes used to differentiate subseries within the sessional papers; sometimes for alternating sessions. Subseries are:

Bills: Public

Reports: Committees

Reports: Commissioners

Accounts and Papers [Command Papers are located in this subseries]

JOURNALS, VOTES, AND PROCEEDINGS

Dates Covered	Proceedings of the Houses of Lords and Commons	Call number
1278-1503	Rolls of Parliament. (written in Norman French, Latin, and Medieval English)	Olin J 301 .H12 ++ Closed Stacks, ask at Circulation
1509-1887	Journals of the House of Lords.	Olin J 301 .J3 ++ Closed Stacks, ask at Circulation
online coverage for 1509-1717, 1830-32	Journals of the House of Lords.	British History Online
1509-1826	Lords Journal Calendar.	Olin J 301 .J31 ++ Closed Stacks, ask at Circulation
1547-1863	Journals of the House of Commons.	Olin J 301 .K3 ++ Closed Stacks, ask at Circulation
online coverage for 1547-1699, 1830	Journals of the House of Commons.	British History Online
1864 to date	Journals of the House of Commons.	not owned by the Library
1660-1739	History & Proceedings of the House of Commons (Chandler)	British History Online
1710/1711-1713/1714, 1720/1721, 1727/1728-1733/1734	Votes &: Proceedings	Kroch Rare & Manuscripts J 301 .K8 +
1998 to date	Votes & Proceedings	Available online from Parliament

For further assistance, please inquire at the Olin Library Reference Desk.

Caroline Spicer, Fred Muratori and Michael Engle
Last update 20 November 2007 (MOE)
Olin-Uris Reference Department

URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/BPP.html