Mark Dunton | The National Archives blog

Posts by Mark Dunton

Hello. I joined The National Archives (formerly Public Record Office) in 1983 and I specialise in researching the records of post-1945 Britain. I enjoy giving public talks, many of which are available to download on our website as podcasts. One of the aspects of my job which I enjoy the most is being media spokesperson on the annual release of government files under the 30-year rule. I have a BA in History from Exeter University, an MA in Archives and Records Management from University College London and an MA in War Studies from King's College London. My research interests include post-1945 British political, social and economic history and the policies of the Heath government in the early 1970s.

The only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated was Spencer Perceval, and The National Archives has marked the 200^th anniversary of this event, which occurred on 11 May 1812, by digitising two key documents about the murder.

Plan of the House of Commons Lobby showing the details of the assassination

TS 11/224 (Former Ref: 947 Part 2)

Among the papers of the Treasury Solicitor is a fascinating plan showing the House of Commons lobby which is where the assassination occurred. It shows all the ‘key players’ at 17:15 on 11 May 1812 by means of a coded system – circle no 1 is Spencer Perceval, having just entered the lobby, and circle No 2 is the assassin, John Bellingham, a merchant from Liverpool with an obsessive grievance against the government. This plan, which is part of the trial papers for John Bellingham, looks strangely ‘modern’ in a sense. Dotted lines show the routes that the assassin took immediately after shooting Perceval at point-blank range: Bellingham returned to the bench where he had been lying in wait earlier, making no attempt to escape. Continue reading »