Erskine May's "Constitutional History"

Contents of Volume I

The numbers on the left are the printed page numbers corresponding to the start of the web page containing each section (some pages contain two sections), and are provided to assist in using the index.

TITLE PAGE AND PREFACES

CHAPTER I

INFLUENCE OF THE CROWN DURING THE REIGN OF GEORGE III.

•   1 Sources and Limits of royal influence.
•   9 Character of George III.
•  17 The Bute Ministry.
•  26 The Grenville and Rockingham Ministries.
•  39 The King, Lord Chatham and Lord North.
•  51 Dunning's Resolutions and the Fall of Lord North.
•  60 The Fox-North Coalition.
•  71 Pitt the Younger and the Crisis of 1783-4.
•  83 Pitt and the King, 1784-1801.
•  92 Pitt, Addington, and the Catholic Question.
• 103 The King and Lord Grenville: The Dissolution of 1807

CHAPTER II

INFLUENCE OF THE CROWN DURING THE REGENCY, THE REIGNS OF GEORGE IV., WILLIAM IV., AND HER MAJESTY, QUEEN VICTORIA

• 119 Paramount Influence of the Crown during the Regency.
• 129 The Affair of Queen Caroline.
• 129 Influence of George IV—Catholic Emancipation.
• 138 William IV and Parliamentary Reform.
• 145 Dismissal of the Melbourne Ministry.
• 154 Queen Victoria; the Bedchamber; Palmerston.
• 163 Domination of Politics by the 'Great Families'.

CHAPTER III

PREROGATIVES OF THE CROWN DURING THE MINORITY OR INCAPACITY OF THE SOVEREIGN

• 167 Regency Legislation of the 1760s.
• 175 The Regency Crisis of 1788-9 (Part I).
• 184 The Regency Crisis of 1788-9 (Part II).
• 195 The Regency Crises of 1801 and 1804.
• 206 The Regency Established 1810-11.
• 216 Regency Acts of William IV and Queen Victoria.

CHAPTER IV

REVENUES OF THE CROWN: THE CIVIL LIST: PENSIONS: PREROGATIVES OF THE CROWN IN RELATION TO THE ROYAL FAMILY

• 225 Crown Lands and Revenues before 1760.
• 234 Civil List of George III: Economical Reform.
• 244 Crown Revenues Since 1820.
• 253 Management of the Crown Estate.
• 253 Civil List and other Pensions.
• 262 Powers of the Sovereign over the Royal Family—The Royal Marriage Act.

CHAPTER V

THE HOUSE OF LORDS, AND THE PEERAGE

• 273 Increase of the Peerage.
• 281 Present State of the Peerage (1860).
• 290 Life Peerages—the Wensleydale Case.
• 299 The Lords Spiritual.
• 299 Political Position of the House of Lords.
• 308 The Reform Bill of 1832.
• 316 Present Significance of the Peerage.

CHAPTER VI

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

• 327 Nomination Boroughs—Bribery and Sale of Boroughs.
• 340 Attempts to Restrain Bribery: The Westminster Election.
• 353 Nominated Members outside the English Boroughs.
• 362 Election Petitions: Places and Pensions.
• 376 Bribes, Loans, Lotteries and Contractors.
• 390 Parliamentary Reform: the 18th Century.
• 405 Parliamentary Reform to 1830.
• 417 The Reform Act of 1832.
• 431 Bribery: Duration of Parliaments: The Ballot.
• 448 Qualification Acts: Later Attempts at Reform.