简体中文
EnglishWhat Is the 'On This Day' Feature on the Journal of Liberal History Website?
Updated
"On This Day" is a dated historical almanac on liberalhistory.org.uk, the website of the Journal of Liberal History. Each entry pins a specific calendar date to an event in Liberal, Liberal Democrat or SDP history, and the site also runs commemorative posts when a figure connected to that history dies. It is a browsing and reference feature rather than a searchable database, so you read it by date rather than by query.
How the feature works
The heading "On This Day" is followed by a date and a short account of what happened. The site's own example is:
- 22 September 1932 — David Owen Evans wins the Cardiganshire by-election for the Liberals. The entry notes he was the Samuelite Liberal candidate, that he won a three-cornered fight against the Conservatives and Labour, and that his majority was 4,571 (16.6%). It adds the interpretive point that the result showed the Liberals, even after their recent split, could still win a three-cornered contest.
So a typical entry gives you four things: the date, the event, the numbers or names involved, and a line of context explaining why it mattered.
Commemorative posts alongside the dated entries
The same area of the site carries obituary-style pieces. When Menzies Campbell, Lord Campbell of Pittenweem, died on 26 September 2025, the site reprinted the chapter on him from its book British Liberal Leaders (Biteback, 2015) under the heading "Menzies Campbell, 1941–2025."
This tells you something useful about sourcing: the commemorative content is drawn from the History Group's own published books, not written fresh for the website. The dated entries follow the same pattern of drawing on the organisation's research output.
What it is good for, and what it is not
| Use it for | Do not expect |
|---|---|
| A quick dated fact tied to a specific day | A keyword search across all historical events |
| Short, sourced context on a by-election or similar event | Full scholarly apparatus in the web entry itself |
| Pointers to the History Group's books and journals | Free access to everything — journals and books are sold separately |
If you want depth on an event you find there, the site's shop sells individual journal issues and books, and a subscription gives access to the journal. If you only want to sample the feature, no purchase is needed to read the entries themselves.
How to use it in practice
- Open liberalhistory.org.uk and look for the "On This Day" heading on the page.
- Read the date and the event summary; note the names, constituency or office, and the majority or vote figures if given.
- If the entry references a person or episode you want to pursue, check the site's books and journal listings — the History Group publishes collected volumes such as British Liberal Leaders that expand on exactly these subjects.
- For recurring use, the site offers a mailing list sign-up in addition to paid subscription plans, which is the low-commitment way to catch new entries and commemorative posts.
The main limitation to plan around: because entries are organised by date, you cannot pull up "everything about Cardiganshire by-elections" in one view. Treat it as a daily-reading feature that occasionally surfaces a lead worth following into the Journal's longer articles.