The Commons and Lords records of debates have been published as separate series since 1909. Earlier Lords debates were published within the Commons volumes. Written answers, ministerial statements and Westminster Hall debates are paged separately at the end of each Commons Hansard volume, with written answers, statements and Grand Committee debates separately paged in the Lords volumes.
The volumes of the House of Commons Journal and House of Lords Journal are the annual official record of the proceedings of each House, written in an explanatory style. They therefore indicate what was done, rather than what was said, but earlier Journals contain some papers not found elsewhere.
Each parliamentary website holds up to date official records of its debates and other proceedings, along with guidance on using their search tools. For further help, please contact your Liaison Librarian.
All our available printed volumes of the Parliamentary debates (Hansard) are in Closed Access in the Basement. Individual printed volumes up to 1980 are available on request through the Enterprise catalogue. Coverage is in microform from the 1980/81 to 2005/06 Parliamentary session, also available on request.
You will find an annual name and subject index in the last volume for each Parliamentary session for the House of Commons and Lords.
House of Commons Journals (1547-1987) are on the 4th Floor. Lords (1509-1854) are in Closed Access, available on request.
Print indexes are available for the Commons Journals up to 1980 and for the Lords Journals from 1660 to 1923, shelved by the main series volumes at OVERSIZE--MF 328.42.
There are other private series of proceedings, diaries and debates held by this Library and elsewhere covering earlier parliamentary periods. For a full listing, it is recommended you consult the following publication, then search the Enterprise catalogue for items of interest: