- Clerk of the Parliaments
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Clerk of the Parliaments Appointer Elizabeth II as SovereignFormation 1315 The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parliamentary procedure and pronouncing the Royal Assent. Many of the Clerk's duties are now fulfilled by his deputies and the Clerk of the Parliaments' Office.
The Under Clerk of the Parliaments is the formal name for the Clerk of the House of Commons.[1]
The term Clerk of the Parliaments is also used as a formal alternative title by the Clerk of the Senate of Canada[2] and the Clerks of the Legislative Councils of New South Wales[3] and Western Australia[4]. In the Australian state of Victoria the title is given to the longer-serving of the Clerks of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly[5]. The title was also formerly used for the Clerk of the Australian Senate[6] and the longer-serving of the Clerks of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of South Australia[7].
Contents
History
The position has existed since at least 1315, when records from the Parliament held by Edward II at Lincoln make reference to a clerk nominated by the king to serve as a "special deputy".[8] This clerk was tasked with reading out the titles of bills and the responses from Parliament. In later Parliaments starting with those under Richard II, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery would read the titles, and the Clerk of the Parliaments the responses.[9] The actual term "Clerk of the Parliaments" did not come into use until the reign of Henry VIII, and the plural (Parliaments, rather than Parliament) signifies that it is a life appointment - the Clerk is appointed for all Parliaments, not just the one currently sitting.[8] On 12 March 1660 a deputy clerk was appointed for the first time after the Clerk (Mr Bowyer) was too ill to attend Parliament.[10] The Clerk of the Parliaments Act 1824 defined the Clerk's duties for the first time in statute, and the Act is still in force and binding on current clerks.[11]
Appointment and duties
The Clerk of the Parliaments is appointed by letters patent from the sovereign , who also holds the sole power to remove him or her.[12] The Clerk has a variety of tasks within the House of Lords. Appointees were originally ecclesiastical figures, although the nineteenth century saw a shift towards members of the legal profession.[13] He is assisted by two other clerks - the reading clerk, and the clerk assistant.[14]
As well as providing advice on procedure, the Clerk also prepares the minutes of proceedings in the Lords, signs all official documents and communications, returns bills to the House of Commons and pronounces the Royal Assent.[15] The Clerk also supervises several offices, including his own (the Clerk of the Parliaments' Office), the Black Rod's Department, which deals with security in the Lords, the Committee Office, which gives legal and procedural advice to committees within the Lords and the Judicial Office, which advises and assists the Law Lords.[16] Since the nineteenth century many of these duties have been performed by his deputies and his own office.[10]
Office holders
Term Name[17][11] Notes ?1280-1290 John Kirkby 1290-1314 Gilbert of Rothbury 1315 Robert of Ashby 1316- William of Airmyn c1327-post 1334 Henry of Edenstowe c1340-1346 Thomas of Brayton in office 1351 & 1352 John of Coddington in office 1377 Geoffrey Martin in office 1377 Edmund Brudenell ?1372-1386 Richard de Ravenser ?c1381 John de Waltham ante 1384-1394 John de Scarle 1394-1414 John Rome 1414-1423 John Frank 1424-1436 William Prestwyke 1437-1438 John Bate 1438-1447 Thomas Kirkby 1447-1470 John Fawkes 1470-1471 Baldwin Hyde 1471-1483 John Gunthorpe 1483-1485 Thomas Hutton 1485-1496 John Morgan 1496-1509 Richard Hatton 1509-1523 John Taylor 1523-1531 Brian Tuke 1531-1540 Edward North 1540-1541 Thomas Soulemont 1541-1543 William Paget NA Thomas Knight 1550-1551 John Mason 1574-NA Francis Spelman 1574-1597 Anthony Mason 1597-1609 Thomas Smith Knighted 1603 1609-1621 Robert Bowyer 1621-1635 Henry Elsynge 1635-1637 Thomas Knyvett 1637-1638 Daniel Bedingfield 1638-1644 John Browne 1644 Edward Norgate 1649-1660 Henry Scobell 1660-1691 John Browne 1691-1716 Matthew Johnson 1716-1740 William Cowper 1740-1788 Ashley Cowper 1788-1818 George Rose 1818-1855 George Henry Rose 1855-1875 John Shaw-Lefevre 1875-1885 William Rose 1885-1917 Henry Graham 1917-1930 Arthur Thring 1930-1934 Edward Alderson 1934-1949 Henry Badeley 1949-1953 Robert Overbury 1953-1959 Francis Lascelles 1959-1963 Victor Goodman 1963-1974 David Stephens 1974-1983 Peter Henderson 1983-1990 John Sainty [18] 1991-1997 Michael Wheeler-Booth 1997-13 July 2003 Michael Davies 14 July 2003-3 November 2007 Paul Hayter [19] 4 November 2007-15 April 2011 Michael Pownall [20][21] 16 April 2011-present David Beamish [22] References
- ^ Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992, section 2(2): "The individual who for the time being is by letters patent appointed to the office of the Under Clerk of the Parliaments (and who is customarily referred to as the Clerk of the House of Commons) shall be the Corporate Officer of the Commons."
- ^ http://www.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/compilations/officersandofficials/ProceduralOfficersAndSeniorOfficials_Senate.aspx
- ^ http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/LCStructure
- ^ http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/web/WebPages.nsf/1/888EA1AC3033F2F048256D7200163221
- ^ http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/assembly/publications-a-research/fact-sheets/1031-fact-sheet-h3-the-clerk#history%20of%20the%20clerk%20of%20the%20parliaments
- ^ http://www.aph.gov.au/exhibitions/pogg/work/administration.htm, http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/aso/so_137.htm
- ^ http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/AboutParliament/From1836/Documents/StatisticalRecordoftheLegislature1836to20093.pdf
- ^ a b Macqueen (1842) p.63
- ^ Pollard (1942) p.314
- ^ a b Macqueen (1842) p.64
- ^ a b "UK Parliament - The Clerk of the Parliaments". Government of the United Kingdom. http://www.parliament.uk/faq/lords_cofp.cfm. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ The Stationery Office (2007) p.18
- ^ Macqueen (1842) p.65
- ^ "Clerk of the Parliaments". BBC. 14 August 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/81958.stm. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ The Stationery Office (2007) p.19
- ^ The Stationery Office (2007) p.21
- ^ Appointments prior to 1485 are taken from Guide to the Records of Parliament by M F Bond (HMSO 1971), p.303
- ^ London Gazette: no. 52373. p. 10125. 1 August 1983. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 57004. p. 8985. 18 July 2003. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 58508. p. 16365. 12 November 2007. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 59601. p. 21635. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 59769. p. 7952. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
Bibliography
- Pollard, A.F. (1942). "The Clerk of the Crown". The English Historical Review (Oxford University Press) 57 (227). ISSN 0013-8266.
- Macqueen, John Fraser (1842). A practical treatise on the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords & Privy Council: together with the practice on parliamentary divorce. A. Maxwell & son. OCLC 60725157.
- The Stationery Office (2007). Companion to the standing orders and guide to the proceedings of the House of Lords: laid on the table by the clerk of the parliaments (21st ed.). The Stationery Office. ISBN 0104007095.
- Todd, Alpheus (1840). The practice and privileges of the two Houses of Parliament: with an appendix of forms. Rogers & Thompson. ISBN 0665277792. OCLC 16440023.
Officers of the House of Commons and the House of Lords House of Commons House of Lords Speaker John Bercow Lord Speaker The Baroness D'Souza Leader of the House of Commons Sir George Young, Bt. Leader of the House of Lords The Lord Strathclyde Serjeant at Arms Jill Pay Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod Lt-Gen. David Leakey Clerk of the House and Chief Executive Robert Rogers Clerk of the Parliaments David Beamish Categories:
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