In 1934 the Parliamentary Press Gallery opened the exhibition ‘Parliament Houses of the Empire’. This brought images of parliament buildings from across the world to the Palace of Westminster. It was opened by then Speaker of the House of Commons, Edward Fitzroy and created by previous chairman of the Press Gallery, Sir Emsley Carr. To celebrate Commonwealth Day 2022, these historic images are brought together again in this online exhibition.
Parliament Buildings in 1934
These historic images capture parliament buildings from countries around the world in 1934. Many of these countries and cities have since changed their names. There are several countries with multiple buildings represented in the set.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons said;
Within my own Parliament building I see a vast community of people working together under one roof. I know that this display of Parliament buildings not only shows off brilliant architecture from around the world, it also represents the people who work each day towards our shared goals across the Commonwealth and the globe.
Click an image to start.
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The Houses of Parliament in Perth, Western Australia. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 1939 -
Victoria Government Building in Australia. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 1941 -
The Houses of Parliament in Canberra, Australia. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4357 -
The Houses of Parliament, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4540 -
The State Parliament House in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4553 -
The Parliament House in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4605 -
South Australia Government Building, Adelaide, Australia. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4606 -
The Public Buildings, Bridgetown, Barbados. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4549 -
The Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Canada. Ink wash drawing by Charles W Simpson. WOA 4358 -
The Parliamentary Buildings in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4359 -
Alberta Legislative Building in Edmonton, Canada. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4533 -
The Legislative Building in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4534 -
The Legislative Building in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4539 -
The Legislative Building in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4541 -
The Legislative Building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4546 -
The Legislative Building, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4602 -
The Legislative Building in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4608 -
The Secretariat, Accra, Ghana, (previously known as Gold Coast). Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4548 -
The Public Buildings and late Court of Policy Hall, Georgetown, Guyana (previously known as British Guiana). Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4543 -
The building in which the Legislative Council of the Colony met, Victoria, Hong Kong. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4536 -
The Legislative Council Building in Patna, Bihar (previously known as Bihar and Orissa), India. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4349. -
The Legislative Council Building in Mumbai (previously known as Bombay), India. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4351 -
The Council House in New Delhi, India. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4356 -
The Council House in Kolkata (also known as Calcutta), West Bengal, India. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4535 -
The Council House, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (previously the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh), India. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 1938. -
The Legislative Council Building in Nagpur, Maharashtra, (previously known as Central Provinces and Berar), India. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4545 -
Leinster House, Dublin, Ireland. Ink wash drawing by Sean Mac Manus. WOA 4538 -
The Tynwald, seat of the Manx Parliament, Isle of Man. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4551 -
Headquarters House, Kingston, seat of the Legislature of Jamaica. WOA 4537 -
The Legislative Council Building in Nairobi, Kenya. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4350 -
The Houses of Parliament, Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4556 -
The Public Offices, seat of the Legislative Council, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4607 -
The Government Building in Malawi, (previously known as Nyasaland). Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4552 -
The Legislative Council Building, Yangon (previously known as Rangoon), Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4609 -
The Houses of Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4360 -
The Government Buildings, Singapore. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4554 -
The House of Assembly, Cape Town, South Africa. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4362 -
The Raadsaal in Pretoria, (previously part of the province of Transvaal), South Africa. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4547 -
The Provincial Council Building in Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4557 -
The Provincial Council Building, Pietermaritzburg (also known as Maritzburg), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4544 -
The Raadsaal, seat of the first Legislative Council, Bloemfontein, South Africa (previously part of the Orange Free State). Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4604 -
The State Council Building, Colombo, Sri Lanka (previously known as Ceylon). Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4555 -
Houses of Parliament in Nassau, The Bahamas. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4550 -
The Red House, seat of the Legislative Council in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4542 -
The Legislative Council Building in Dar Es Sallam, Tanzania (previously known as Tanganyika). Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4603 -
The Legislative Assembly Buildings in Harare (previously known as Salisbury), Zimbabwe (previously known as Southern Rhodesia). Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4361 -
The Public Buildings in Hamilton, Bermuda. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 4342 -
The Council Chamber in Lagos, Nigeria. Photograph by Unknown. Monochrome photographic print. WOA 1940