Burning of Parliament
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The Palace of Westminster, the medieval royal palace used as the home of the British parliament, was largely destroyed by fire on 16 October 1834. The blaze was caused by the burning of small wooden t
The Palace of Westminster on fire, October 1834, with Old Palace Yard in foreground
The House of Commons in 1808
The House of Lords, c. 1809
Tally sticks were used by treasury officials until 1826.
Tally stick
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A tally stick was an ancient memory aid used to record and document numbers, quantities, and messages. Tally sticks first appear as animal bones carved with notches during the Upper Palaeolithic; a no
Burning of Parliament
…palace used as the home of the British parliament, was largely destroyed by fire on 16 October 1834. The blaze was caused by the burning of small wooden tally sticks which had been used as part of the accounting procedures of the Exchequer until 1826. The sticks were disposed of carelessly in the two furnaces under…
Single and split tallies from the Swiss Alps, 18th to early 20th century (Swiss Alpine Museum)
Entrance gates to the UK National Archives, Kew, from Ruskin Avenue. The notched vertical elements were inspired by medieval tally sticks.