THE HOUSE OF LORDS

See Also: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS; THE INDENTURED EARL; INNS & TAVERNS The Star & Garter, The Wicked Lord Byron

Parliament is a younger institution than the House of Lords. As a body, the latter can trace its history back to 1095. King William II summoned England's nobles to attend a meeting that he had convened at Rockingham Castle in Northamptonshire. The purpose of this gathering was to try to resolve a dispute between the monarch and Anselm the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first English Parliament was not held to be held until 140 years later.

Location: The Palace of Westminster, Parliament Square, SW1A 0AA (purple, blue)

Dinner Gong

The Rt Rev Maurice Wood (1916-2007) Bishop of Norwich was an episcopal member of the House of Lords. There, he earned the name Dinner Gong Wood. This was because it was reputed that whenever he rose to speak in the Chamber, a large proportion of the peers present would stand up and go to the tea rooms.

Dreamtime

There is a story of an early twentieth-century Cabinet minister who dreamt that he was addressing the House of Lords. He awoke in its Chamber to discover that he was due to do so.

Umbrellas

The composer and dilettante the 14^th Baron Berners (d.1950) assumed his seat the House of Lords. He never attended the Chamber again, claiming that, while he had been there, a bishop had stolen his umbrella.

See Also: UMBRELLAS

Whipped Herring

Whips are responsible for enforcing cohesion within their parties.

The 13^th Earl Ferrers was a hereditary peer who was active in the proceedings of the House of Lords. He served in a number of Conservative governments in a variety of junior and middle-ranking posts. During the early 1970s he was a whip. The then Chief Whip was the 2^nd Baron Denham. Upon one occasion, after the latter had left the Palace at the end of a working week, the earl placed a dead herring in one of the drawers of his superior's desk. On the Monday the baron returned to an office that smelt decidedly high. Upon discovering the fish he screamed. He proceeded to conceal it within Ferrers's bureau. With time the earl, in his turn, unearthed the rotting remains of the piscine vertebrate. Upon doing so he threw it at Denham who hurled it back at him. The underling then bided his time before secreting the carcass in his colleague's brief case.

The House of Lords Act of 1999 reduced the number of hereditary peers who sat in the Chamber from several hundred nobles to 92. This runt was chosen electorally by the House's members. Ferrers topped the ballot.

The Woolsack

There is a throne in the Lords. It is used solely by the monarch. The Lord Chancellor, in her/his capacity as the Speaker of the House, sits upon the Woolsack, which stands upon the floor of the Chamber. The seat's name is a reminder of how important the wool trade was to Medieval England's prosperity. The practice is believed to have originated during the reign of King Edward III (1312-1377).

See Also: SIR THOMAS GRESHAM The Cloth Trade; ITALIANS The Lombards

Website: www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/woolsack

David Backhouse 2024