Hansard [key], name given to the official record of the proceedings of the British Parliament, named after the Hansard family of printers. Luke Hansard (1752–1828) was printer to the House of Commons and published Journals of the House of Commons (1774–1828) based on information from other printed sources. William Cobbett began (1804) a series of unofficial reports of the debates that was printed by Luke's son, Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), who took over the enterprise in 1812. The reports were published by the family firm until 1890 and by different contractors until 1909, when the House of Commons instituted a series of official reports. The House of Lords followed suit in 1917, and substantially verbatim daily reports became available. Published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, the reports are still generally referred to as Hansard, and the name appears on the title page.
See J. C. Trewin and E. M. King, Printer to the House (1952).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: British and Irish History
