Senate House
-original Palace of Westminster burned down by Orangemen in 1834 as part of the gigantic Orange Riots
-new building built on neoclassical Palladian lines inspired by design of John Soane, finished in 1848
-colonnade on outside, neoclassical facade, with pediment and dome akin to National Gallery
-with colonnades on both sides of facade curving inwards
Central Hall
-entrance to the House
-very grand
-4 statues of female representations of:
1. Liberty
2. Justice
3. Wisdom
4. Victory
Central Corridor
-entrance into Parliament from Rotunda
-connects to Parliament Hall
Westminster Hall
-Fire of 1834 started when Orange mob threw torches, gunpowder bombs at Westminster Hall from New Palace Yard
-roof entirely reduced to cinders
-left as shell of walls
-in its wake
-roof rebuilt, scorched stones replaced or whitewashed
-no appeal for grand interior renovation due to symbolism of Westminster Hall being major for virtually everyone
-but exterior made neoclassical and roof shingles of modern marble
-neoclassical facade added to its entrance
-with stained glass window having melted, replaced with painting of ratification of the Constitution - Charter of Liberty and Security and Frame of Government
-modern uses
-opening of parliament
-Country folders/British Isles/Impeachments
-meetings and presentments of petitions
-times when Parliament meets as Senate
-election of Chief Magistrate
-resolution of Peers-Commons disputes
-shop stalls in off-hours
-on south wall, in naves, 6 statues of rulers
1. Boadicea
2. Alfred the Great
3. Brian Boru
4. Elizabeth
5. William III
6. Lord Holland
-on walls below ribs of roof, 26 statues of
1. Robert Fitzwalter, leader of the baronial opposition to King John and whose victory secured the Magna Carta
2. Simon de Montfort, baron who convened a parliament which included, for the first time, full representatives of the Commons
3. William Wallace, Scottish knight who fought an English invasion that sought to incorporate it without its consent
4. John Fortescue, statesman during the War of the Two Roses who recognized the supremacy of Parliament in the Constitution
5. Edward Coke, judge and politician who opposed Charles I's absolutism, challenged the Star Chamber's tyranny, and was the moving force of the Petition of Right
6. John Hampden, who opposed Charles I's unconstitutional levy of Ship Money, resisted arrest as one of the Five Members, and died in battle in the early stage of the Puritan Revolution
7. John Pym, who defeated Stuart schemes through parliamentary procedure, resisted arrest as one of the Five Members, and organized the war effort of the early Puritan Revolution
8. Harry Vane, who opposed both Stuart and Cromwell, fought for religious liberty, and suffered executed following the Restoration
9. William, Lord Russell, Whig politician who opposed the Stuarts during the Restoration and martyred for it
10. Algernon Sidney, theorist of republicanism who opposed both Stuart and Cromwell, and executed for opposing the Stuart king Charles II
11. John Somers, Baron Somers, who opposed the Stuart king James II, was a moving force in the Glorious Revolution, and framed the Bill of Rights
12. John Locke, Whig theorist and philosopher whose ideas lie at the heart of classical radicalism and republicanism
13. Isaac Newton, mathematician and physicist who first developed calculus and formulated Newtonian classical mechanics and optics
14. Benjamin Franklin, American scientist and revolutionary who discovered the principles of electricity and the nature of lightning and became a moving force of the American revolutionary movement
15. George Washington, who defeated the forces of the Guelph king George III in the American Revolution and became the first President of the United States
16. Charles Pratt, Earl Camden, judge and politician who upheld habeas corpus, supported the American Revolution, and protected the rights of juries
17. Richard Price, Welsh mathematician and radical reformer who condemned religious disabilities and daringly praised the French Revolution as a heroic product of the great British tradition of liberty
18. Thomas Muir, Scottish radical reformer who suffered deportation for his political beliefs and returned to die in a republican rebellion
19. Edmund Burke, founder of moderatism who praised the American Revolution, advocated Catholic emancipation, opposed British atrocities in India, and attacked the French Revolution
20. Mary Wollstonecraft, philosopher, author, and founder of the women's rights movement
21. Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Irish revolutionary republican who served as Executive Councillor for the Interior for the declared Irish Republic during the War of the French Revolution (1792-1804) > Great Irish Rebellion (1796-9) in the name of religious unity
22. Charles James Fox, who supported the American and French Revolutions, opposed the power of the Crown, pushed parliamentary reform, and whose values saw vindication in the British Wars > Popular Revolution (1827-9)
23. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, famed Irish playwright and politician who led the Foxite party after the death of Charles James Fox
24. Samuel Whitbread, radical Foxite, imprisoned in the Tower of London and freed by the mob in the British Wars > Popular Revolution (1827-9), and became the first Radical prime minister and faced the Orange Riots
25. Daniel O'Connell, who fought for civil and religious liberty through peaceful protest and secured the formation of the Irish Legislature
26. Henry Brougham, who in the wake of the British Wars > Popular Revolution (1827-9) reformed and codified criminal, commercial, prodecural, and civil law
-Mary Wollstonecraft replaced Oliver Cromwell
-b/w statues, 24 paintings of:
1. Boadicea addressing her troops before her tragic defeat (61 AD)
2. Alfred and the Witenagemot instituting trial by jury (878 AD)
3. King John reluctantly signing the Magna Carta (1215)
4. Simon de Montfort summoning a Parliament including the Commons (1265)
5. Peter de la Mare presiding as the Commons' first speaker (1376)
6. Peter Wentworth in the Tower of London for exercising freedom of speech in the Commons (1576)
7. Edward Coke confirming the supremacy of Parliament through the Case of Proclamations (1611)
8. Charles I forced to give assent to the Petition of Right (1628)
9. William Lenthall refusing to tell Charles I the location of the Five Members (1642)
10. John Hampden's martyrdom for the Parliamentary cause at Chalgrove Field (1643)
11. Algernon Sidney writing his Apology in the Day of his Death awaiting execution (1683)
12. William III accepting the Declaration of Right (1688)
13. Signing of the American Declaration of Independence (1776)
14. The vote of no confidence against Lord North's ministry (1782)
15. Edmund Burke's opening of the impeachment of Warren Hastings (1788)
16. Charles James Fox toasting to the sovereignty of the people (1798)
17. Charles James Fox's release from the Tower of London (1801)
18. Daniel O'Connell advocating against the Dissenting Ministers Act (1813)
19. Protests immediately before the Manchester Massacre (1819)
20. Samuel Whitbread toasting to the Majesty of the People (1825)
21. Protests immediately before the Clontarf Massacre (1826)
22. The Rump Privy Council convening a Convention Parliament (1827)
23. Parliament meeting at Exeter Hall despite Orange Order violence (1834)
24. Henry Brougham presenting his Civil Code to Parliament (1843)
Judicial Quarter
-on other side (if Thames is down on map, it's on the left) of Westminster Hall
-perfectly symmetrical with it (on the outside)
-built for Supreme Court of Judicature
-contains a number of other judicial offices
-generally divided by a few halls with, near the middle, a Chamber of Judicature
Chamber of Judicature
-constructed to look pretty similar and grand to old Westminster Hall court
-with large roof as well
-where Supreme Court of Judicature meets
-in naves, statues of
1. Alfred the Great, Saxon king of England celebrated as a lawgiver
2. Henry de Bracton, English jurist who expounded the principles of old Common Law
3. John Fortescue, English chief justice who recognized the civil liberties of freeborn Britons
4. Edward Coke, English jurist who challenged the brutality of the Star Chamber
5. Oliver Ellsworth, American jurist who co-drafted the American constitution and established its judiciary
6. John Philpot Curran, Irish lawyer who defended the people and suffered execution for his support of the United Irishmen
7. John Erskine, English lawyer who defended radicals and reformers amidst Pitt's Terror
Chamber of the House of Commons
-built on neoclassical lines
-octagonal room with a dome over it
-room high up in the building
-dome is high enough it lets in plentiful light through windows
-dome made of copper & topped with a marble depiction of Britannia
-Britannia has in one hand a shield w/ Union Jack and in other a pole with Phrygian cap on it
-central room consists of levelled benches in horseshoe layout
-compromise b/w "opposing benches" of old House, emphasizing intensity of debate, and hemicycle layout of antiquity
-revived by neoclassical revivalism stoked by British Wars > Popular Revolution (1827-9) and perception of being scientific
-benches laid out so that they have room for full capacity
-in practice, as only a fraction of this meets regularly, empty top benches
-Commons seats exclusive to MPs duly elected in grand divisions
-only exception is Cabinet (Prime, Treasury, Defence, Foreign, and Interior Ministers), given permanent invitation to sit in Ministers' Benches as guests
-formerly, ministers allowed to be elected as ordinary MPs
-following British Wars > Popular Revolution (1827-9), abolished
-along with other "placemen", as part of radical aim to exclude them
-but Whig belief that ministerial presence in Commons allows ministers to be put in check
-Frame of Government incorporates compromise of ministers sitting as non-voting members
-Ministers' Bench draped in red cloth, color of government
-in contrast to green cloth, color of the people, of the other bench
-includes Speaker seated in chair
-Speaker elected by Commons, presides over it as non-member
-following ancient custom, Speakers dragged in chair
-formerly Speakers were ordinary MPs
-reformed following British Wars > Popular Revolution (1827-9) as part of restoring Parliament's representative character
-Speaker required to be non-partisan
-in practice retired statesman or civil servant elected to this position
-below speaker is Table of the House of Commons
-Clerk and Legislation Minister sit to provide aid and advice to general House
-to bring House into session, Serjeant-at-Arms places Mace of the House onto Table, removed when it's out of session
-above speaker's chair is painting of Britannia with Roman armor, shield, and Phrygian cap
-to above, right and left of speaker's chair, are 2 statues of:
1. John Hampden
2. Charles James Fox
-upon motion, House votes by division
-Members vote by walking to halls to left or right of Speaker to vote yea or nay, respectively, on motion
-Members warned of vote through ringing of division bells
-placed across Parliament and in nearby pubs and restaurants
-afterwards ppl have 10 minutes to vote
-halls lead to respective division lobby in which vote is recorded by tellers and members of public
if Member stays in seat, recorded as "present" vote
-behind Speakers' Chair is Office of the House of Commons, Legislation Minister sits here in off-hours
-job of Legislation Minister is to review bills and amend them to harmonize them with existing laws and suggest improvements
-in addition to receiving proposals from general public
-and presenting laws proposed by members of judiciary
-Minister provides resources from Commons' various reference libraries to any member that requires it
-in addition to printing organized law code
-and Gazette of the Register also printed to provide to general public
-which records all proceedings and publishes them to the public
-Minister is servant of Commons, with soft power
-various viewing galleries
-one for reporters
-incl. reporters employed by Gazette of the Register
-others reserved for members of the public, known as Strangers, for observation
-originally intended for there to be very large gallery where Office of the House located
-removed because large viewing gallery viewed as a cause of violence of French Revolution
-in much smaller viewing galleries, any noise of approval of approbation strictly prohibited
-galleries may be cleared at move of at least 20 MPs
Commons Hall
-all entrance and exit to the Commons across Commons Hall
-a grand hall dedicated to history of British liberty
-meant to impose upon all those who enter and exit Commons a belief in upholding its privileges
-2 statues of:
1. Peter de la Mare
2. William Lenthall
Chamber of the House of Peers
-formerly Chamber of the House of Lords
-during British Wars > Popular Revolution (1827-9), threat of mob overrunning Parliament means that Armada Tapestries are kept elsewhere for safekeeping
-government drags its feet at giving up tapestries to disloyal assembly
-then Fire happens and Tapestries instead moved to purpose-built room
-Lords chamber burned to the ground during Fire of 1834
-new Chamber built with traditional three-way seating, continues to be a long, tall room
-Chief Magistrate's chair lies inside semicircular apse
-occupied during Condition of the State addresses
-3 busts in apse of
1. William Murray, Earl of Mansfield
2. Thomas Erskine, Baron Erskine
3. Henry Vassall-Fox, Baron Holland
-decorated with 4 tapestries, added in 1855, of Orange Riots (1834):
1. Signing of the Municipal Reform Act
2. Orange Order attacking Parliament
3. Evacuation of the Houses of Parliament
4. Parliament assembled at Exeter Hall in defiance of the mob
Armada Gallery
-room built especially for the Armada Tapestries
-which are draped on the walls
-placed within glass frames
Committee rooms
-various rooms on one sides of Lords and Commons reserved for various committees
Parliament Hall
-connects with both Lords Hall and Commons Hall
-and connects them to the rest of the Palace
-so oriented that, if all the doors are open, the Speaker can see the Lords' Throne
-contains grand statues of Charles James Fox, Edmund Burke, and other great parliamentarians
National Gallery
-stage of processions at opening of Parliament
-displays of paintings
Library of Parliament
-library run by Legislation Minister
-pretty large, stocked with massive number of books from King's Library
-also a repository for records
-consists of Reading Room modelled on Pantheon and with dome slightly larger than Florence Cathedral
-fireproofed and uses a lot of iron and connected to rest of building by only semi-separated corridor
-additional buildings established in years that followed afterwards
-additional riverside entrance
-colossal marble statue of John Milton is in center
-Library Pavilion serves as entrance
-on Embankment Road
-lined in entrance, 8 statues of
1. William Shakespeare
2. John Dryden
3. Henry Fielding
4. Jonathan Swift
5. Alexander Pope
6. Robert Burns
7. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
8. Walter Scott
Library Galleries
-stores original copies of British documents of liberty
1. Magna Carta
2. Petition of Right
3. Grand Remonstrance
4. Act of Habeas Corpus
5. Bill of Rights
6. Toleration Act
7. American Declaration of Independence
8. Charter of Liberty and Security
Speaker's House
-ordinary house off-premises