History of Hansard

The origins of Hansard

From the second half of the 16th century the British Parliament prohibited all reporting and publishing of its proceedings. The Parliament believed it should deliberate in private and regarded any attempt to publicise its proceedings as a serious punishable offence. By the late 18th century dissension among more progressive members of Parliament, the growing weight of public opinion and the increasingly outspoken attacks of the press, persuaded the Parliament to relax its stance.

In 1803 the House of Commons passed a resolution giving the press the right to enter the public gallery.

That same year William Cobbett, publisher of Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, added to his newspaper a supplement /entitled 'Parliamentary debates', which was a reprint of journalists' reports of speeches extracted from other newspapers.

In 1812 that publication was taken over by Cobbett's assistant, T. C. Hansard, who in 1829, changed the title of the reports to Hansard's Parliamentary Debates. By the late 1870s dissatisfaction with the accuracy of the report was being expressed. As a result Parliament voted Hansard the sum of £300 a year for shorthand assistance. The Hansard family continued to produce the 'Parliamentary debates' until 1889.

Other publishers continued to print transcripts of the debates until in 1909 the House of Commons took control of the reporting and printing of parliamentary debates.

It was during the 60 years of the Hansard family's publication that the name Hansard became synonymous with the printed debates. In 1943 the British Parliament reinstated the name Hansard in the title of its formal records.