Journal of Liberal History

England Objects to the Treaty of Versailles, June 1, 1919

Journal of Liberal History

For the discussion and research of Liberal, Liberal Democrat and SDP history

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On This Day

14 October 1712

Birth of George Grenville, Whig Prime Minister 1763-65

Member of a prominent Whig family (his son William also became Prime Minister), George Grenville was Whig MP for Buckingham 1741-70. An early supporter, along with his brother-in-law William Pitt the Elder, of the “Boy Patriot” group lead by Lord Cobham which opposed Sir Robert Walpole, Grenville joined the administration of Henry Pelham as a Lord of the Admiralty and served in a succession of Whig governments. Later estranged from Pitt, Grenville served Tory Lord Bute eventually succeeding him as Prime Minister. Grenville prosecuted John Wilkes for seditious libel and introduced the Sugar and Stamp Acts which caused great resentment in the American Colonies. Never on good terms with George III, Grenville fell out with the King over who should rule in the event of the King’s becoming mentally unfit which led to Grenville’s dismissal never to return to high office.

  • Menzies Campbell, 1941–2025

    To commemorate the sad death of Menzies Campbell, Lord Campbell of Pittenweem, on 26 September 2025, we are reprinting here the chapter on him from our book British Liberal Leaders (Biteback, 2015).

    Sir Menzies Campbell

    (more…)

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We publish the Journal of Liberal History and a range of books

The Liberal Democrat History Group promotes the discussion and research of topics relating to the histories of the British Liberal Democrats and its predecessor parties, the Liberal Party and the SDP, and of liberalism more broadly.

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We aim to appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of British Liberalism, whether academics, party activists or spare-time students of political history.

Things we do:

Publish the quarterly Journal of Liberal History, containing articles, book reviews, biographies, and meeting reports

Publish books, including Peace, Reform and Liberation: A History of Liberal Politics in Britain 1679-2011, Dictionary of Liberal Thought, and Great Liberal Speeches

Make resources available to students of Liberal history, including news of research in progress and guides to archive sources (see Research resources)

Provide a concise history of the Liberal Democrats and its predecessor parties, along with a more extensive set of historical articles and biographies – the Liberal History Online project, available through themes and time periods.

Publish shorter booklets as concise reference sources, including Liberal History (a concise history of the Liberal Democrats and its predecessor parties), Liberal Leaders 1828-1899, Liberal Leaders of the Twentieth Century and Mothers of Liberty: Women who built British Liberalism

Organise discussion meetings, both in London and as fringe meetings at Liberal Democrat conferences

“There are hazards in everything one does, but there are greater hazards in doing nothing.”

Shirley Williams

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