The volumes covering 1754-1790 were the first of the History of Parliament's sets to be published. They were compiled under the editorship of Sir Lewis Namier, who wrote a substantial number of the biographies and constituency surveys, although Namier died before he could begin serious work on the survey, and that task was completed by his former research assistant John Brooke.
From the dissolution in 1715 to that in 1754 2,041 men were elected to the House of Commons. Biographies of all of them are accessible through the lists above. As with other volumes, the biographies include those who were elected to Parliament even if they did not take their seats, among them, most oddly, Captain Edward Legge RN, who died in the West Indies on 19 Sept. 1747 three months before he was elected for Portsmouth.
These 1,982 biographies cover all of the men who sat in the Hosue of Commons between the general election of February 1690 and the dissolution of Queen Anne's last Parliament in January 1715. The conventions used are described in detail in the 'Method' section of David Hayton's Introductory Survey.
The 1660-1690 Section of the History contains 2040 biographies of MPs who sat in between the opening of the Restoration Convention Parliament in April 1660 and the dissolution of the Revolution Convention Parliament in February 1690. These include ten who died or were raised to the peerage before taking their seats. The principles governing the compilation of the biographies are explained in the 'Method' section of the Introductory Survey.
The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629 edited by Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, was published in six volumes in November 2010.
These volumes include 2,668 articles on the members who sat in the House of Commons during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, although because of difficulties encountered in the identification of borough MPs (almost all the county Members have been identified) the precise number of men who sat in the House of Commons during this period cannot be stated.
These volumes cover the reigns of three Tudor monarchs - Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. As the official returns for many of the early parliaments of Henry VIII are lost the identity of many members is unknown. It has been possible, though, to discover many previously unknown members from civil, municipal and parish records. In some cases, the evidence for a particular Member sitting in a particular parliament is conjectural, or it may be known that a Member sat in parliament, but unclear which constituency he represented.
For more information, please see: Latest Research, Commons 1422-1504.
These volumes deal with the earliest period covered by the History of Parliament so far. They contain the biographies of 3,175 individuals who sat in the House of Commons in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.
For more information, please see: Latest Research, Commons 1640-1660.