UK Parliamentary Archives

• Held At: Parliamentary Archives: GB-061
• Catalogue Reference: HL/PO/JO/10/6/106/2307
• Former Archival Reference: Display Document E.128
• Ref No: HL/PO/JO/10/6/106/2307
• Date: 28 Jan 1707
• Level: File
• Extent: 1 volume
• Custodial History: The English and Scottish Crowns were united in 1603 when James VI of Scotland became James I of England, but despite the King's wish the two countries remained independent from each other. In 1700 during the reign of William III, who was keen to promote a more complete union, the House of Lords approved a Bill authorising the appointment of a Commission to negotiate the substance of such as union. However, the House of Commons did not agree and the process did not proceed any further until the accession of Queen Anne in 1702 when it was restarted. The Commissioners met in April 1706, and despite much opposition and indifference in both countries to the proposed union, a set of Articles were finally drawn up by the Commission and agreed to on 22 July 1706. The Articles provided that Scotland should send 45 MPs and 16 representative Peers to 'One Parliament of Great Britain', and stipulated that 'all laws and statutes in either kingdom so far as they are contrary to or indifferent with the terms of these articles or any of them shall from and after the Union cease and become void and shall be so declared to be by the respective parliaments of the said kingdoms'. They were subsequently delivered to the House of Lords on 28 January 1707, at which time a Bill was also introduced for ratifying them and effecting the union of the two countries.
• Description: This file comprises a vellum-bound volume containing the Articles of Union agreed by the Commissioners nominated by Queen Anne in 1706. The Articles are signed and sealed by the Commissioners, those of England signing in the right hand columns and those for Scotland in the left. The first two English signatures are of the Archbishop of Canterbury and William Cowper, Keeper of the Great Seal, whilst the first two Scottish signatures are of the Scottish Chancellor, Lord Sealfield, and the Duke of Queensbury, the Scottish Lord Privy Seal.
  Annexed:
  a) 28 Jan -- Copy of Act ratifying and approving the treaty of Union of the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England as passed by the Scottish Parliament [now in HL/PO/JO/10/2/28].
  b) 28 Jan -- Volume bound in vellum containing the Minutes of the Proceedings of the English and Scottish Commissioners who drew up the Articles of Union [now in HL/PO/JO/10/2/28].
  c) 18 Feb -- Copy of Act settling the manner of electing the sixteen Peers and forty-five members to represent Scotland in the Parliament of Great Britain, as passed by the Scottish Parliament [now in HL/PO/JO/10/2/28].
• Terms:
  • Scotland,
  • England,
  • Great Britain,
  • Colonialism,
• 
  View digital reproduction of: Articles of Union between England and Scotland

  A

• Language: English
• Related Material: The Articles of Union contained in this file is one of the two English copies made, the other copy having been destroyed in the Great Palace of Westminster Fire of 1834; of the two Scottish copies, with the signatures reversed, one is in Edinburgh whilst the other is at Windsor
• Access Status: Open
• Access Conditions: This record contains information of outstanding constitutional or historical importance and access to the original document is restricted. Requests to view will be dealt with by providing access to a copy.
• Reproduction Conditions: Copies should be made from the digital surrogate of this record.
• Physical Description: Manuscript on parchment with seals
• Finding Aids: Calendared in "The Manuscripts of the House of Lords", Volume VII New Series, pp 20-21
• Copies Exist: A digital copy of this record is available. For information about how to view it, which may include online access, please follow the link below.
• URL:http://digitalarchive.parliament.uk/HL/PO/JO/10/6/106/2307
• Publication Notes: Lords Journals Volume XVIII, pp 207-212, In extenso.

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