Failed Legislation, 1660-1800: Extracted from the Commons and Lords Journals

To become law a Bill had to pass many different stages, at any of which, up to and including royal assent, it might fail; Bills unpassed at the dissolution of a Parliament were also automatically abandoned: Between 1660 and 1800 Parliament passed 14;216 Acts. In this period 7025 attempts to pass an act at Westminster failed. Failed Legislation, 1660-1800, provides a full list of these for the first time. It provides an essential perspective on the legislative history of the period and will be an essential tool for social, economic and political historians. Arranged chronologically, by parliamentary session, it presents the key information as to how legislative initiatives were handled. By showing patterns of demand for legislation, and categorising types of legislation and their success rate, it also reflects on many aspects of British history in this period, and not just political history. Subject coding allows the list to be analysed at a number of levels, from the general to the particular, including the examination of specific issues. Taken as a whole, it shows how extensively statute was used to address a very wide range of issues, both local and national, in the early modern period.