Black Rod

Black Rod (officially known as the Lady Usher of the Black Rod or, if male, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod) is an official in the parliaments of several Commonwealth countries. The position originates in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position is similar to one known as a serjeant-at-arms in other bodies.

"Usher of the Black Rod" redirects here. For the Canadian equivalent, see Usher of the Black Rod (Canada).

United Kingdom
Lady Usher of the Black Rod
Gentlemen Usher of the Black Rod
Incumbent
Sarah Clarke
since 13 February 2018
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Reports toClerk of the Parliaments
AppointerThe Crown (de jure)
Clerk of the Parliaments (de facto)
Formation1350
First holderWalter Whitehorse (known)
DeputyYeoman Usher of the Black Rod
WebsiteParliamentary information page
Caricature from Vanity Fair of Admiral Sir Augustus W. J. Clifford, 1st Bt, as Black Rod.

In the United Kingdom, Black Rod is principally responsible for controlling access to and maintaining order within the House of Lords and its precincts,[1] as well as for ceremonial events within those precincts. Since early 2018, the post has been held for the first time by a woman, Sarah Clarke.[2]

Origin

The office was created in 1350 by royal letters patent, though the current title dates from 1522. The position was adopted by other members of the Commonwealth when they adopted the British Westminster system. The title is derived from the staff of office, an ebony staff topped with a golden lion, which is the main symbol of the office's authority.

A ceremonial rod or staff is a common type of symbol indicating the authority of the office-holder. Depictions of ancient authority figures in many cultures include such a rod (alternatively called a sceptre). Another early example was the fasces (literally a bound bundle of rods) carried by guards ("lictors") who accompanied certain high-level officials in the Roman Republic and later Empire.

United Kingdom

Appointment

Black Rod is formally appointed by the Crown based on a recruitment search performed by the Clerk of the Parliaments, who is the employer of all House of Lords officials. Prior to 2002, the office rotated among retired senior officers from the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force. It is now advertised openly. Black Rod is an officer of the English Order of the Garter, and is usually appointed Knight Bachelor if not already knighted. His or her deputy is the Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod.[3]

Official duties

Black Rod is principally responsible for controlling access to and maintaining order within the House of Lords and its precincts,[1] as well as for ceremonial events within those precincts. Previous responsibilities for security, and the buildings and services of the Palace of Westminster, have been passed, respectively, to the Parliamentary Security Director (as of the post's creation in January 2016) and Lords Director of Facilities (as of that post's creation and the retirement of the then-Black Rod in May 2009).[4]

Black Rod's official duties also include responsibility as the usher and doorkeeper at meetings of the Most Noble Order of the Garter; the personal attendant of the Sovereign in the Lords; as secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain and as the Serjeant-at-Arms and Keeper of the Doors of the House, in charge of the admission of strangers to the House of Lords. Either Black Rod or her deputy, the Yeoman Usher, is required to be present when the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament, is in session, and plays a role in the introduction of all new Lords Temporal in the House (but not of bishops as new Lords Spiritual). Black Rod also arrests any Lord guilty of breach of privilege or other Parliamentary offence, such as contempt or disorder, or the disturbance of the House's proceedings. Her equivalent in the House of Commons is the Serjeant at Arms.

Former Black Rod, David Leakey, said that 30% of his work as Black Rod was within or for the House of Commons.[5]

Black Rod, along with her deputy, is responsible for organising ceremonial events within the Palace of Westminster, providing leadership in guiding the significant logistics of running such events.

Ceremonial duties

Mace

Black Rod is in theory responsible for carrying the Mace into and out of the chamber for the Speaker of the House of Lords (formerly the Lord Chancellor, now the Lord Speaker), though this role is delegated to the Yeoman Usher and Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, or on judicial occasions, to the Lord Speaker's deputy, the Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms. The mace was introduced in 1876.

State Opening of Parliament

Black Rod is best known for their part in the ceremonies surrounding the State Opening of Parliament and the Speech from the throne. They summon the Commons to attend the speech and lead them to the Lords. As part of the ritual, the doors to the chamber of the House of Commons are slammed in the approaching Black Rod's face. This is to symbolise the Commons' independence of the Sovereign. Black Rod then strikes the door three times with the staff, and is then admitted and issues the summons of the monarch to attend.[6] From 1980 until October 2019, Dennis Skinner, the former Labour MP from Bolsover, made a quip after Black Rod's summons.

This ritual also happens whenever the Lords have a commission to be read and Black Rod summons MPs to hear it. For example, on Tuesday 17 December 2019 this ritual happened twice.[7]

This ritual is derived from the attempt by King Charles I to arrest Five Members in 1642, in what was seen as a breach of the constitution. This and prior actions of the King led to the Civil War. After that incident, the House of Commons has maintained its right to question the right of the monarch's representative to enter their chamber, although they cannot bar them from entering with lawful authority.

List of Black Rods in England, Great Britain and the UK from 1361

This list is derived from one published by the Parliamentary Archives in 2011, with alterations from later research.[8]

  • c.1361–1387: Walter Whitehorse
  • 1387–1399: John Cray
  • 1399–1410: Thomas Sy
  • 1410–1413: John Sheffield
  • 1413–1415: John Athelbrigg
  • 1415–1418: William Hargroave
  • 1418–1423: John Clifford
  • 1423–1428: John Carsons
  • 1428–1459: William Pope
  • 1438–1459: Robert Manfield (joint)
  • 1459–1461: John Penycok
  • 1461–1471: Vacant ?
  • 1471–1485: William Evington
  • 1483–1485: Edward Hardgill (joint)
  • 1485–1489: Robert Marleton
  • 1489–1513: Ralph Assheton
  • 1495–30 December 1511: Hugh Denys (jointly with Assheton until Denys's death)[9]
  • 1513–1526: Sir William Compton
  • 1526–1536: Henry Norreys
  • 1536–1543: Anthony Knyvett
  • 1543–1554: Sir Philip Hoby
  • 1554–1565: John Norreys
  • 1554–1591: Sir William Norreys (joint)
  • 1591–1593: Anthony Wingfield
  • 1593–1598: Simon Bowyer
  • 1598–1620: Richard Coningsby
  • 1605–1620: George Pollard (joint)
  • 1620–1642: James Maxwell[10]
  • 1642–1649: Alexander Thayne (as recognised by Parliament); jointly with James Maxwell until c. 1646. The Lords was abolished in 1649 and Thayne made a claim to the title at the Restoration in 1661, but was denied.[10]
  • 2 March 1645 – 1661: Peter Newton (as recognised by the Royalists; Edward Ellis discharged the duties in 1642 and Newton in 1644, but neither seems to have been formally appointed at the time.[10])
  • 1671–1675: Sir John Ayton[11]
  • 1671–1683: Sir Edward Carteret[11]
  • 1683–25 April 1694: Sir Thomas Duppa[11]
  • 1694–25 August 1698: Sir Fleetwood Sheppard
  • 5 December 1698 – 1 June 1710: Admiral Sir David Mitchell
  • 1710–1718: Sir William Oldes
  • 1718–1727: Sir William Sanderson, 1st Baronet
  • 1727–1747: Sir Charles Dalton
  • 1747–1760: Sir Henry Bellenden
  • 1760 – 6 September 1765: Sir Septimus Robinson
  • 1765 – 1812: Sir Francis Molyneux, 7th Baronet
  • 1812 – 25 July 1832: Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt
  • 25 July 1832 – 8 February 1877: Admiral Sir Augustus Clifford
  • 3 May 1877 – 23 June 1883: General Sir William Knollys
  • 24 July 1883 – 7 October 1895: Admiral Sir James Drummond
  • 16 December 1895[12] to 23 July 1901:[13] Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Biddulph
  • August 1904 – 16 December 1919: Admiral Sir Henry Stephenson
  • January 1920 – 14 May 1941: Lieutenant-General Sir William Pulteney
  • October 1941 – 15 August 1944: Air Chief Marshal Sir William Mitchell
  • January 1945 – 18 January 1949: Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey Blake
  • 18 January 1949 – 18 June 1963: Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Horrocks
  • 18 June 1963 – October 1970: Air Chief Marshal Sir George Mills
  • October 1970 – 18 January 1978: Admiral Sir Frank Twiss
  • 10 January 1978 – January 1985: Lieutenant-General Sir David House[14]
  • January 1985 – January 1992: Air Chief Marshal Sir John Gingell
  • January 1992 – 8 May 1995: Admiral Sir Richard Thomas
  • 9 May 1995 – 8 May 2001: General Sir Edward Jones
  • 9 May 2001 – 30 April 2009: Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Willcocks
  • 30 April 2009 – 28 October 2010: Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Viggers
  • 21 December 2010 – 21 December 2017: Lieutenant-General David Leakey[15]
  • 13 February 2018 – present: Sarah Clarke[16]

List of Serjeants-at-Arms of the House of Lords

Technically the serjeant at arms attending the Lord Chancellor (the presiding officer of the House of Lords) was regarded as an officer of the House of Lords. He was appointed for life until 1713 and during good behaviour thereafter, originally receiving a daily remuneration and from 1806 an annual salary. The post was merged with that of Black Rod in 1971.

incomplete before 1660

  • 1660: Humphrey Leigh
  • 1668: Edward Wood (in Extraordinary; did not succeed to the reversion)
  • 1671: Sir George Charnock (in Extraordinary)
  • 1673: Sir George Charnock (in Ordinary) jointly with Roger Charnock[17]
  • 1697: Peter Persehouse[17]
  • 1713: Sarles Goatley[17]
  • 1713: Charles Stone[17]
  • 1716: Francis Jephson
  • 1745: Richard Jephson[17][18]
  • 1789: William Watson[17][18]
  • 1818: George Francis Seymour[18][19]
  • 1841: Alexander Perceval[18][19]
  • 1858: Colonel Sir Wellington Patrick Manvers Chetwynd Talbot[19]
  • 1899: Major-General Sir Arthur Edward Augustus Ellis[19]
  • 1901: Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Fleetwood Isham Edwards[19]
  • 1910: Major-General Sir Stanley de Astel Clarke
  • 5 November 1910: Captain Sir Seymour John Fortescue[20]
  • 1 February 1936: Major-General Sir Charles Edward Corkran[21]
  • 17 March 1939: Admiral Sir Herbert Meade-Fetherstonhaugh[22]
  • 2 December 1946: Air Vice-Marshal Sir Paul Copeland Maltby[23]
  • 17 March 1962: Captain Kenneth Lachlan Mackintosh[24]
  • 1 January 1971: Admiral Sir Frank Twiss[25]

Since 1971 the office of Serjeant at Arms has been held by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.

Gentlemen Ushers of the Black Rod in Ireland

Before the Act of Union of 1800, which united the Kingdom of Ireland with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, there was also a Black Rod in the Irish House of Lords. From 1783 the Irish Black Rod was also Usher of the Order of St Patrick, so the office continued after the Union. No one was appointed to the office after the separation of the Irish Free State in 1922.

The Senate of Northern Ireland also had a Black Rod throughout its existence.[36]

Other UK ushers

Before the Acts of Union 1707 united the English and Scottish parliaments, there was a Heritable Usher of the White Rod who had a similar role in the Estates of Parliament in Scotland.[37] This office is currently held by The Rt Rev. John Armes, Bishop of Edinburgh, but the role carries no duties.

Gentleman ushers exist for all the British orders of chivalry, and are coloured as follows:

Black Rod in other Commonwealth countries

As in the United Kingdom, Black Rod is responsible for arresting any senator or intruder who disrupts the proceedings.

Canada
Main article: Usher of the Black Rod (Canada)

The Black Rod for the Senate of Canada is the equivalent to the office for the House of Lords. The Legislatures of Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island have also incorporated Black Rods into their respective parliamentary systems.[38]

Australia

Both the Australian Senate and houses in the parliament in each Australian state (except Queensland, which does not have an upper house) have their own Usher of the Black Rod. The current Usher of the Black Rod for the Australian Senate is John Begley.[39] In the Australian Senate, the Usher of the Black Rod assists with the administration and security of the Senate and has the power to arrest or detain Senators.[40]

New Zealand

In New Zealand, where the Legislative Council was abolished in 1951, the Usher of the Black Rod continues to summon MPs to the chamber for the Throne Speech. It is not a full-time position. Colonel William "Bill" Nathan, OBE, ED was Usher of the Black Rod 1993 to 2005. The position is currently held by David Baguley.[41]

Gentlemen Ushers of the Black Rod in Jamaica
  • 1820 – 1836 Anthony Davis

References
  1. "Black Rod". UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  2. "Sarah Clarke appointed to the role of Black Rod". parliament.uk. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  3. "Yeoman Usher". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  4. Torrance, Michael (12 December 2017). "Governance and Administration of the House of Lords" (PDF). House of Lords Library. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  5. "'Scandal' if Bercow got peerage - ex-Parliament official", BBC News, 5 February 2020, retrieved 6 June 2020
  6. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Black Rod" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  7. "House of Commons – Hansard".
  8. "Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod". Archived from the original on 16 September 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  9. Sainty, J.C. (October 2014). "Black Rod and the Office of Usher of the Parliament Chamber". Parliamentary History. 33 (3): 511–515. doi:10.1111/1750-0206.12109.
  10. Sainty, J.C. (June 2018). "A Biographical Note on James Maxwell, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod". Parliamentary History. 37 (2): 293–298. doi:10.1111/1750-0206.12366.
  11. "Appendix: Biographical Notes". Parliamentary History. 34: 75–76. October 2015. doi:10.1111/1750-0206.12158.
  12. Biddulph, Michael. "London Gazette Issue: 26697Page:81". The Gazette. The Parliamentary Press, London.
  13. Biddulph, Michael. "The London Gazette: Issue: 27363 Page:6569". The Gazette. The Parliamentary Press, London.
  14. "No. 47433". The London Gazette. 10 January 1978. p. 321.
  15. "New appointment as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod". royal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  16. "First female Black Rod in 650 years". BBC News. BBC. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  17. Chris Cook and John Stevenson, British Historical Facts 1688–1760 (1988) p. 97.
  18. Chris Cook and John Stevenson, British Historical Facts 1760–1830 (1980) p. 50.
  19. Chris Cook and Brendan Keith, British Historical Facts 1830–1900 (1975) p. 104.
  20. "No. 28437". The London Gazette. 15 November 1910. p. 8163.
  21. "No. 34252". The London Gazette. 4 February 1936. p. 729.
  22. "No. 34608". The London Gazette. 17 March 1939. p. 1844.
  23. "No. 37806". The London Gazette. 3 December 1946. p. 5913.
  24. "No. 42627". The London Gazette. 20 March 1962. p. 2327.
  25. "No. 45274". The London Gazette. 5 January 1971. p. 137.
  26. "ELLYS, Thomas (1685–1709), of Mitre Court, Inner Temple". History of Parliament online. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  27. Peerage and Baronetage of Great Britain and Ireland. 1839. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  28. "The Peerage". Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  29. Lodge, John. The Peerage of Ireland: Or,A Genealogical History of the Present ..., Volume 4.
  30. "MONTAGU, George (c. 1713–1780), of Windsor, Berks". History of Parliament online. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  31. "EDMONSTONE, Archibald (1717–1807), of Duntreath, Stirling". History of Parliament online. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  32. The Most Illustrious Order by Peter Galloway; ISBN 0-906290-23-6
  33. Dodsley. The Annual Register 1783.
  34. Galloway, Peter (1 January 1983). The Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick. Phillimore & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-0850335088.
  35. "BERNARD (afterwards BERNARD MORLAND), Scrope (1758-1830), of Nether Winchendon, Bucks". History of Parliament online. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  36. Morton, Grenfell (January 1980). Home rule and the Irish question. Longman. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-582-35215-5. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  37. Facts about Edinburgh. The Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library Family Tree
  38. "2nd Session, 41st Parliament, Volume 149, Issue 19 (Senate of Canada)". Parliament of Canada. Queen's Printer for Canada. 27 November 2013.
  39. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "No. 16 – Usher of the Black Rod". www.aph.gov.au.
  40. http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/odgers13
  41. "State opening of Parliament". The New Zealand Herald. 9 December 2008.
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