The Parliamentary History of England

In 1800 Cobbett launched his daily newspaper 'The Porcupine', but he had greater success with 'The Political Register', a weekly publication that ran from 1802 until his death in 1835 and in which he pioneered the use of a leading article to express his views.

William Cobbett had a vision of empowering people by giving them the whole truth, and he sought to do so through voluminous publications in three areas: all historical sources of parliamentary proceedings, all state trials and all contemporary parliamentary debates. The historical work, gloriously entitled, 'The Parliamentary History of England, From the Earliest Period to the Year 1803: From Which Last-mentioned Epoch it is Continued Downwards in the Work Entitled “The Parliamentary Debates”', ran to 36 volumes and was published by Thomas Curson Hansard. The 'Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors from the Earliest Period to the Present Time', ran to 32 volumes and it, too, was published by Hansard. The third printing venture, of all parliamentary debates from 1803, was also published by Hansard. In 1812 Cobbett sold his share in all three publications to Hansard.