Abstract
The public investigation of problems can take a number of forms —Royal Commissions, Tribunals, ad hoc departmental Committees and special parliamentary conferences or committees. We do not deal here with purely parliamentary bodies like the Speaker’s Conferences (on Electoral Reform —see p. 199 —and on Devolution) or like the Select Committees set up from time to time by the House of Commons and/or the House of Lords. But we attempt an exhaustive listing of all domestic Royal Commissions and f all Tribunals of Inquiry appointed under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, 1921, as well as an arbitrary selection from the 1,000 or so ad hoc and statutory Committees of Inquiry appointed since 1900. It is, however, important to remember that the decision whether to refer a problem to a Royal Commission or a Committee is not necessarily determined by the importance of the subject. Royal Commissions are listed fully here because the number is not excessive. Departmental Committees, which have been much more numerous, often deal with relatively narrow and limited matters; we have selected only a few which seemed plainly as important as the average Royal Commission. We have also omitted any reference to committees and sub-committees appointed by Royal Commissions and by standing governmental advisory bodies, though these include some reports of importance, such as the Report to the Central Advisory Council on Education by Lady Plowden’s Committee on Primary Education (1967).
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Bibliographical Note
P. and G. Ford, Breviate of Parliamentary Papers (1900–16,1917–39, 1940–54)
C. Hughes, The British Statute Book (1957).
For reference to day-to-day political events the Official Index to the ‘ Times’ is the most complete guide, though before 1906 Palmer’s Index to the ‘ Times’ is difficult to use successfully and is by no means complete. Keesing’s Contemporary Archives since 1931 give a concise summary of news reported in the national Press, though they were not published in their present fuller form until 1937. Brief chronologies of the year’s major events (including some very minor ones) are printed in the Annual Register (since 1954 the Annual Register of World Events, which also covers them in greater detail in the main text of the book. Still briefer summaries of the year’s events are to be found in Whitaker’s Almanack.
For biographical details of leading figures in British politics since 1900 the main sources are the Dictionary of National Biography (1901–11,1912– 21, 1922–30, 1931–40, 1941–50, 1951–60), the Concise Dictionary of National Biography, 1901–50, Who Was Who (1897–1915, 1916–28, 1929– 40,1941–50,1951–60,1961–70) and Who’s Who, for those still alive. As supplements to these, for lesser-known figures in the Labour and Co-operative movement see also the Labour Who’s Who, 1924 and 1927 (The Labour Publishing Company), the Herald Book of Labour Members (1923, with a supplement in 1924, ed. S. Bracher), and The Dictionary of Labour Biography (eds. J. Bellamy and J. Saville). Appointments are recorded in many official sources. The major annual publications are: the Imperial Calendar and Civil Service List (replaced in 1973 by two works, Civil Service Year Book and Diplomatic List), H.M. Ministers and Heads of Public Departments (published 1946–77, from four to six times a year and after 1973 renamed H.M. Ministers and Senior Staff in Public Departmentsj, and the London Gazette, where appointments are announced officially, which appears about once a fortnight. Since 1978 each House of Parliament has published a Weekly Information Bulletin. Official appointments are also recorded in the annual Lists of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, and the Commonwealth Relations Office, the Army, Navy and Air Force Lists, the Law Lists, and the Annual Estimate of the civil, revenue, and service departments. There are three handbooks on Parliament, giving the names of M.P.s, details of procedure and officials: Dod’s Parliamentary Companion (annually), Vacher’s Parliamentary Companion (published from four to six times a year) and F. W. S. Craig’s The Political Companion (published quarterly since 1968). Until 1931 Debrett’s Illustrated House of Commons and the Judicial Bench is particularly useful. Extremely valuable sources of reference for the House of Commons are the books House of Commons published by the Pall Mall Gazette in 1906, 1910 and 1911, and since 1885 by the Times after each General Election (1922–4 excepted)—in 1885–1900 as The New House of Commons and since 1970 as The Times Guide to the House of Commons. M. Stenton and S. Lees, Who’s Who of British Members of Parliament (Vol 2, 1886–1918) (1978) and its successors offer the most compact single source of M.P.s’ biographies. Other sources of biographical information are Debrett’s and Burke’s Peerage, Burke’s New Extinct Peerages (1972) and Burke’s Dictionary of the Landed Gentry, L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage, 1884–1971 (1972), the Directory of Directors, the Authors’ and Writers’ Who’s Who, and other directories or registers devoted to the members of particular professions, or to the alumni of particular schools and universities.
The major sources for British statistics are already quoted in notes to the tables throughout the book. The most readily available is the Annual Abstract of Statistics (H.M.S.O.). This appears both annually, and in a form covering a ten-year period, since 1945. The Censuses of Population, Industry and Production though infrequent provide the firmest figures. Much of the information in annual publications is only estimated. The reports of the major revenue departments, the Commissioners for Customs and Excise, the Commissioners for Inland Revenue, and the Registrars- General for England and Wales and for Scotland, are major sources of statistical information—as are the reports of the other Government Departments, and especially the Ministry of Labour Dept, of Employment (and Productivity) with its monthly Gazette (until 1917 this was the Board of Trade Labour Gazette), and Annual Abstract of Labour Statistics. Other major sources of information are The London and Cambridge Economic Service published about three times a year in the ‘Times’ Review of Industry and the Abstract of British Historical Statistics by B. R. Mitchell and P. Deane (1962). Much statistical information is presented in A. H. Halsey (ed.), Trends in British Society since 1900 (1972).
No attempt has been made to provide a bibliography for this century. But for the early years, a valuable guide is H. J. Hanham, Bibliography of British History 1851–1914 (1976).
An extensive bibliography is available for the middle of the period by C. L. Mowat in his book Britain between the Wars (1955) and in his article, ‘Some Recent Books on the British Labour Movement Journal of Modern History, xvii, No. 4, Dec 1945. He also published British History since 1926: A Select Bibliography (The Historical Association, 1960)
Another critical bibliography is supplied by A. J. P. Taylor, English History 1914–45 (1966)
See also R. M. Punnett, British Government and Politics (1971).
Other bibliographies include J. Palmer, Government and Parliament in Britain: a bibliography (1964, The Hansard Society)
E. J. Hobsbawm, ‘Twentieth Century British Politics’, Past and Present, No. 11, Apr 1957
H. R. Winkler, ‘Some Recent Writings on Twentieth Century Britain’, Journal of Modern History, xxxii, No. 1, Mar 1960.
See also ‘Bibliography of British Labour History’ in the Journal of Modern History, Vol. 41 No. 3, Sep 1969, compiled by William H. Maehl Jr. Perhaps the best recent bibliographies are to be found in A. F. Havinghurst, Modern England 1901–70 (1976)
B. Stevenson, Reader’s Guide to Great Britain (1977)
J. Westergaard, A. Weyman and P. Wiles Modern British Society, a Bibliography (1977).
The British Economy, Key Statistics 1900–1970 and Annual Abstract of Statistics.
British Iron and Steel Federation, Annual Abstract of Statistics.
Ministry of Power, Annual Abstract of Statistics.
R. Robson, The Cotton Industry in Britain (1957), p. 332. Statistics table, 1, and information supplied by the Cotton Board.
Figures for June each year, 1900–13 including Isle of Man and Channel Islands. 1914 onwards excluding Isle of Man and Channel Islands. 1900–22 including S. Ireland. Annual Abstract of Statistics, Agriculture Department.
The British Economy, Key Statistics 1900–1970 and Annual Abstract of Statistics. 1972 onwards Economic Trends.
Bank of England and Annual Abstract of Statistics.
H. F. Lydall and D. G. Tipping, ‘The Distribution of Personal Wealth in Britain’, Bulletin of the Oxford University Institute of Statistics (1961). Inland Revenue Statistics (1978).
Adapted from A. Maddison, Economic Growth in the West (1964) and updated with O.E.C.D. data.
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© 1980 David Butler
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Butler, D., Sloman, A. (1980). Royal Commissions, Committees of Enquiry and Tribunals. In: British Political Facts 1900–1979. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-16248-2_8
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