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Parliament
| 1852 | The Convocations of Canterbury and York were reestablished as representative ("ruling") bodies of the clergy alone. These bodies could among other duties, enact Canons, or make the Canon Laws of the Church, which were submitted to the Crown for Assent. A Royal License was issued to announce and exercise them. |
| 1858 | The Jews Relief Act 1858 permitted the omission of the words 'on the true faith of a Christian' from the oath in individual cases, allowing Jews to sit as Members of Parliament. |
| 1867 | The first debate in the House of Commons on women's suffrage was initiated by John Stuart Mill |
| 1872 | Women given suffrage - not without a great deal of objection and obstruction from male Members. Not many women Members of Parliament; those who are bold enough to stand for office and then take their seats face verbal, physical and emotional harassment that would be intolerable in today's world. |
| 1872 | William Gladstone's government brought in the Ballot Act, which introduced a secret system of public voting. Before this, in parliamentary elections people still had to mount a platform and announce their choice of candidate to the officer who then recorded it in the poll book. Employers and local landlords therefore knew how people voted and could punish them if they did not support their preferred candidate. |
| 1875 | Parliament authorizes the Channel Tunnel Company Ltd. to start working on a tunnel beneath the English Channel. This was an Anglo French project with a simultaneous Act of Parliament in France. |
The Police
The police shout "Who
goes home?" when the House rises. This is often explained as an invitation
to Members to join together in bands to cross what in the past were the
dangerous unlit fields between Westminster and the City, or to hire boats
homeward on the Thames as a party in order to save the individual fares
(the same may apply to taxis nowadays). The Speaker, on leaving the Chair,
will say to the Sergeant "usual time tomorrow", or "usual
time this day" if it is after midnight.
Another call is made
during the Speaker's procession, when the inspector on duty in the Central
Lobby shouts "Hats off, Strangers". There are of course few
wearing hats; but the police remove their helmets. This is another relic
of the elaborate hat wearing and doffing etiquette of former centuries
(see Dress below).
The Police, though on duty in and about the Palace, do not enter the Chamber
when the House is sitting. If the House sits beyond midnight, they remove
their helmets.
DRESS in Parliament
Alfred Kinnear MP,
in 1900, summed up the hat-wearing rules as follows:-
"At all times
remove your hat on entering the House, and put it on upon taking your
seat; and remove it again on rising for whatever purpose. If the MP asks
a question he will stand, and with his hat off; and he may receive the
answer of the Minister seated and with his hat on. If on a division he
should have to challenge the ruling of the chair, he will sit and put
his hat on. If he wishes to address the Speaker on a point of order not
connected with a division, he will do so standing with his hat off. When
he leaves the House to participate in a division he will take his hat
off, but will vote with it on. If the Queen sends a message to be read
from the chair, the Member will uncover. In short, how to take his seat,
how to behave at prayers, and what to do with his hat, form between them
the ABC of the parliamentary scholar."
In order to avoid the appearance of debate and the better to be seen, a Member wishing to raise a point of order during a division was required to speak with his hat on.
Medals, being possibly a sign of favour from the Crown, are not worn in the House.
Snuff and Smoking
Another curious survival
of the eighteenth century is the provision of snuff, in recent years at
public expense, for Members and Officers of the House, at the doorkeepers'
box at the entrance to the Chamber. Very few still avail themselves of
the facility. Snuff, however, is the only form of tobacco the use of which
is tolerated in or around the Chamber: smoking has been banned there and
in committees since 1693.
Brief Chronology of Parliament - OTHER Recent Events
| 1829 | Catholic Emancipation Act repealed most civil disabilities, including prohibition of sitting in the House. |
1832 |
Reform Act. 56 English boroughs disfranchised totally; 30 deprived of one Member; 22 new two-Member boroughs and 19 single-Member boroughs created in England. £10 residential franchise supplemented by £10 copyhold and £50 tenant-at-will franchise. Electorate increased by about 50% in England and 57% overall. Approximately 20% of English adult males could now vote. Act also provided for the annual compilation of an electoral register of those entitled to vote. The process of distributing seats in proportion to population began. |
| 1832 | Joseph Pease became the first Quaker to be elected to the House of Commons. On seeking to affirm instead of taking the oath, he was ordered to withdraw until a parliamentary Committee allowed him to affirm and thereby retain his seat, the Southern Division of Durham. |
| 1834 | 16 October. Palace of Westminster almost totally destroyed by fire, apart from Westminster Hall and the Crypt Chapel. A public competition to design a new building was won by Charles Barry. He was assisted by Augustus Welby Pugin |
| 1844 | 1st edition of Erskine May's Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usages of Parliament published. |
| 1852 | New Houses of Parliament opened. |
| 1866 | Promissory Oaths Act. Established the form of oath still used today. |
| 1867 | Second Reform Act. Proposed male household suffrage with various minor conditions and additions. Added approximately 1.12 million to the existing electorate of 1.40 million. |
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