'The Day Parliament Burned Down' - Saturday Evening Lecture on 1st February

Published On Mon 27 Jan 2014 by Grant Hill

Former Director of the Parliamentary Archives Dr Caroline Shenton will recount the day Parliament burned down at the first event in the University of Dundee's 2014 Saturday Evening Lecture Series.

Dr Shenton, an honorary teaching fellow of the University's Centre for Archive and Information Studies (CAIS), will talk about the blaze that ripped through the Palace of Westminster, destroying Parliament's glorious old buildings and their contents, when she appears at the Dalhousie Building on Saturday, 1st February.

In the early evening of 16th October 1834, to the horror of hundreds of thousands of witnesses, a huge ball of fire exploded through the roof of the Palace of Westminster. The enormity of the blaze meant it could be seen by the King and Queen at Windsor, and from stagecoaches on top of the South Downs.

'The Day Parliament Burned Down', Dr Shenton's study of the incident beat competition from the likes of Alastair Campbell, Andrew Marr and Nick Robinson to win top prize at the inaugural Political Book Awards last year. It was described by Professor Mary Beard, one of the judges, as 'microhistory at its absolute best' and was also shortlisted for the Longman-History Today Prize.

Based on the book, Dr Shenton's lecture of the same name will take the audience through the gripping hour-by-hour story of the fire and considers its devastating aftermath and far-reaching consequences.

Dr Shenton said, 'I'm delighted to be able to share this amazing and little-known story with a Dundee audience, and privileged to be asked to speak in the 90th anniversary year of the lecture series.

'Writing and publicising my first popular history book has been a real eye-opener, and I'm thrilled to have been able to use my experiences to create a new postgraduate module on Public History for CAIS."

The Saturday Evening Lecture Series is Scotland's oldest continuous free public lecture series, and celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2014. SELS attracts thousands of people each year eager to hear from prestigious, world-class speakers.

'The Day Parliament Burned Down' takes place at 6pm on Saturday, 1st February in the Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill. A book signing and drinks reception will follow the event.

Free tickets are available from events@dundee.ac.uk, www.dundee.ac.uk/tickets, Tower Building Reception or 01382 385564/385108.

A drinks reception and book signing will follow the event.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277