X-Nico

95 unusual facts about House of Lords


A Deal in Ostriches

He demands his rights as a British Subject and plans to appeal to the British House of Lords.

Alex Bailin

A and others v Home Secretary 2005 2 AC 68 (House of Lords appeal in “Belmarsh case” - detention without trial of suspected terrorists)

Auton

The story also featured in a discussion in the House of Lords, where Baroness Bacon expressed worries about it being too frightening even for older children.

Blind trust

One set up to fund its campaign in the 1997 general election received donations from wealthy supporters, some of whose names leaked out, and some of whom received life peerages into the House of Lords after Labour won the election.

Brian Wynne

He was an Inaugural Member of the Management Board and Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency, (EEA), (1994-2000) and a Special Adviser to the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee Inquiry into Science and Society, (March 2000).

British Iron Company

Attwood then appealed to the House of Lords where a final verdict in his favour was given in March 1838.

Catholic Association

Henry Grattan continued to support the cause and Catholic emancipation had been passed by the House of Commons previously by a majority of six, but it was rejected in the House of Lords, and generally by King George III who lived until 1820.

Catnic

In 1982, Catnic were involved in a landmark patent case, Catnic Components Ltd v Hill & Smith Ltd, which brought about a decision from the House of Lords

Charlotte Lennox

He also claimed to be the proper heir to the Earl of Lennox in 1768, but the House of Lords rejected his claims on the basis of bastardry, or his "Birth misfortunes" as Charlotte tactfully described them.

Chav

A Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords on the Equality and Human Rights Commission Meral Hussein-Ece, Baroness Hussein-Ece in 2011 tweeted, "Help. Trapped in a queue in chav land. Woman behind me explaining latest EastEnders plot to mate while eating largest bun I've ever seen."

Clan Borthwick

In 1762 Henry Borthwick of Neathorn was recognised as male heir first Lord by the House of Lords.

Clan Boyle

This was done to ensure him a seat on the House of Lords as, at that time, only a small number of Scottish peers could sit, known as Representative peers.

Clan Scrymgeour

The current chief of Clan Scrymgeour is Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee who has followed his father into politics in the House of Lords.

Collar day

Collars are also worn when the queen opens or prorogues Parliament and a few other observances, including religious services of the various orders and by those taking part in the Ceremony of an Introduction of a Peer in the House of Lords.

Compensation for Disturbance Bill

The Bill passed through the House of Commons of the United Kingdom but met with a devastating defeat (282 votes to 5) in the House of Lords.

Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences

The bill, after passing the House of Commons, was unexpectedly thrown out by the House of Lords; but fearing that it might be revived, the booksellers thought it best to retreat though more than twenty sheets had been printed.

Daphne Trimble

After graduating in Law from Queen's University Belfast, she married her former lecturer David Trimble in August 1978, acquiring the courtesy title of Lady on his elevation in June 2006 to the House of Lords.

David Chilton Phillips

In the House of Lords, he chaired the select committee on Science and Technology and he is credited with getting Parliament onto the World Wide Web.

Defective Premises Act 1972

There was some debate in the House of Lords, with questions and amendments covering Section 1, but the bill was not substantially amended, something North puts down to the quality of the draft prepared by the Law Commission.

Dining rights

Dining rights, in the United Kingdom, are the right to use the dining facilities offered to the members (and possibly their guests, when accompanied by a member) of certain organisations such as universities, clubs, colleges and bodies such as the House of Lords, and the Hawks' Club.

Dishonest assistance

The liability itself is well established, but the mental element of dishonesty is subject to considerable controversy which sprang from the House of Lords case Twinsectra Ltd v Yardley.

The issue was later reconsidered in Twinsectra Ltd v Yardley in the House of Lords, which unfortunately returned a different answer.

Division of La Trobe

The first person to hold the seat was Richard Casey, Baron Casey, later the sixteenth Governor-General of Australia and the last of three Australian politicians to be elevated to the British House of Lords.

Duke of Norfolk's Case

Charles sued to enforce his interest, and the court (in this instance, the House of Lords) held that such a shifting condition could not exist indefinitely.

Duty of care in English law

the House of Lords recognised that such a duty may be owed, where a relationship of reliance exists between two parties.

In rejecting the previous evolution of duty of care, a categorical approach where a claim would have to fit under previous situations a duty had been found, the House of Lords unanimously found a duty to exist.

Edward Drummond

The M'Naghten Rules developed by the House of Lords after his trial were to establish the basis for the insanity defence in all common law countries.

Effigy

The best known British example of a caricature effigy is the figure of the 1605 Gunpowder Plotter Guy Fawkes, found in charge of gunpowder to blow up the King in the House of Lords.

English tort law

The members of the House of Lords agreed that Mrs. Donoghue had a valid claim, but disagreed as to why such a claim should exist.

Eric Sharp, Baron Sharp of Grimsdyke

Eric Sharp, Baron Sharp of Grimsdyke Kt CBE (17 August 1916 in London - 2 May 1994 in London) was a British business man and Member of the House of Lords.

Falsehood in War-Time

He was granted a peerage and became Leader of the House of Lords in 1930.

Familias Regnant universe

As the story progresses, the abdication of the King after the Cloning Scandal caused the Council (equivalent of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom) to appoint an elected official to govern.

Fish Legal

This Association takes private legal action against polluters to the House of Lords and the European Court if necessary, but most cases are settled out of Court if the Environment Agency has not proceeded against the polluter.

Fleetwood Edwards

Between 1901 and 1910 he served as a Serjeant-at-Arms in the House of Lords to King Edward VII.

Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford

He was greatly trusted by John Pym and Oliver St John, and is mentioned by Clarendon as among the “great contrivers and designers” in the House of Lords.

Free World Trust v. Électro Santé Inc.

Along with the related decision, Camco v. Whirlpool (2001), 9 C.P.R. (4th) 129 (SCC), the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the doctrine of equivalents applied in the United States and adopted the doctrine of purposive construction, as originally applied by the United Kingdom House of Lords in Catnic v. Hill & Smith.

Friedrich Heinrich Geffcken

His writings on English history have been translated by S. J. Macmullan and published as The British Empire, with essays on Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Palmerston, Beaconsfield, Gladstone, and reform of the House of Lords (1889).

Giuffria

Some of these demos would eventually appear on the House of Lords debut album, and nine tracks from the Giuffria III sessions were included on David Glen Eisley's Lost Tapes release.

Glenn Shadbolt

Speaking at the House of Lords Glenn Shadbolt, 22, said the horrific effect of the attack had been exacerbated by the complete lack of help.

Gopal Ballav Pattanaik

He visited Britain and the United States and participated in work shops and seminars with the judges of the House of Lords in Britain and the U.S Supreme Court, respectively.

Half Moon Street

One such, identifying himself by a fake name, turns out to be Lord Bulbeck, a trusted House of Lords member with a key role in national defense.

Henry Glapthorne

The location of her death makes it certain that Henry Glapthorne is the "one Glapthorne, who lived in Fetter Lane", that on 12 January 1643 was identified to the House of Lords as the author of the tract His Maiesties Gracious Answer to The Message sent from the Honourable Citie of London, concerning Peace (1643).

Henry Standish

The House of Lords refused to pass the bill from the Commons that would renew the law, which was close to expiration.

Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885

When he attempted to promote the clause in the House of Lords, this was opposed by Lord Redesdale, Chairman of Committees, who felt that the measure should be extended to all boroughs.

House of Peers

The British House of Lords, which is known as the "House of Peers" for ceremonial purposes

Illegality in English law

The plaintiff was ultimately successful in Tinsley v Milligan in the House of Lords, which allowed the claim on the grounds that the plaintiff did not need to rely on the illegality.

Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits

In the House of Lords he became known as a campaigner for traditional morality.

He was knighted in 1981 and became the first Chief Rabbi to enter the House of Lords in 1988 as Baron Jakobovits.

J. Horace Round

He advised the Court of Claims and Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords on matters concerning the coronation of King Edward VII.

John Monks

John Stephen Monks, Baron Monks (born 5 August 1945 in Manchester) is a member of the House of Lords and was the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the UK from 1993 until 2003, when he became the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

John Tenniel

For this he received a £200 premium and a commission to paint a fresco in the Upper Waiting Hall (or Hall of Poets) in the House of Lords.

Kálmán Tisza

Legislation such as Public Law III abolished the Royal Chancellery and the Residential Council and replacing them with a bicameral parliament (House of Lords and House of Representatives).

Lee Clegg

A set of appeals to the Court of Appeal and House of Lords led to the quashing of the murder conviction in 1998 and a re-trial in March 1999, on the grounds that new evidence suggested that the fourth bullet entered the side of the car.

Little Foundation

On 4 November 2009, Lord Hameed, the charity's president, tabled a motion in the House of Lords asking the Government what measures have been taken to prevent cerebral palsy which now costs the NHS £4 billion every year.

Maitland Mackie

His younger brothers were John Mackie who served as Labour MP and George Yull Mackie who became a Liberal MP, both subsequently entering the House of Lords.

Manama incident

He and another activist, Abd-al Ghani al-Khanjar, had attended a conference at the House of Lords on August 5, held to discuss human rights issues in Bahrain.

Mansfield, Massachusetts

It was named for William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, a pro-colonial member of the House of Lords.

Maraval

The West Indian cricketer Learie Constantine included 'Maraval' in his full title when, in 1969, he became a Life Peer and member of the British House of Lords.

Martin Coles Harman

The House of Lords found him guilty in 1931, and he was fined £5 with fifteen guineas expenses.

Mubarak al Fadil al Mahdi

Nov. 1995: Organized an International Conference on Peace and Democracy in Sudan with Christian Union, held at the United Kingdom House of Lords and attended by representatives of the IGAD countries, Egypt, the United States, Britain, France, Canada, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands.

Obol Investment

The founder and owner of Obol, an English aristocrat by the name of Sir Brownleigh does not exist and the British House of Lords has no such family registered.

Omissions in English criminal law

A modern recognition by the House of Lords that a failure to act can result in criminal liability can be found in R v Miller.

Operation Spanner

The case was appealed first to the High Court, then to the House of Lords.

The resulting House of Lords case (R v Brown, colloquially known as "the Spanner case") ruled that consent was not a valid legal defence for wounding and actual bodily harm in the UK, except as a foreseeable incident of a lawful activity in which the person injured was participating, e.g. surgery.

Raipur, Birbhum

Satyendra Prasanno Sinha, a subsequent zamindar of Raipur, was elevated to the peerage as Baron Sinha, of Raipur, in 1919, becoming the first Indian member of the British House of Lords,

Richard Kingston

In 1707, his attack on Dr. John Freind's vindication of the Earl of Peterborough's conduct in Spain appeared; he was arrested by order of the House of Lords.

River Loxley

Both sides fought for their cause vigorously, but the committee of the House of Lords which heard the cases ruled in favour of the Corporation, who paid the Water Company £2,092,014 for all of their assets, and took over responsibility for water supply.

River Rother, East Sussex

There was some concern in the House of Lords that the lock would not be large enough to accommodate the freighter, although it would be possible to open both sets of lock gates when the tide level was suitable.

Robert Arnot

the Court of Session turned down his challenge, but this was overturned five years later by the House of Lords.

Robert Fleming Gourlay

His report prompted a bill to be introduced into the British House of Commons and adopted, but it was rejected by the House of Lords.

Robert Mushet

Mushet gave evidence before the House of Lords committee on the resumption of cash payments on 29 March and 7 April 1819, as an expert on the currency question.

Robert Phillip

Later he was committed to the Tower of London for refusing to be sworn on the Anglican Bible on 2 November 1641, when he had been summoned by the House of Lords committee to be examined touching State matters.

Rochet

In the Anglican Church the rochet is a vestment peculiar to bishops, and is worn by them in choir dress, with the chimere, both at all times of their ministration in church and also on ceremonial occasions outside, e.g. sitting in the House of Lords, attending a royal levee, or commencement ceremony.

Roger Acherley

The case was finally given against Acherley, on an appeal before the House of Lords, on 4 February 1725.

S. Subramania Iyer

Subjected to scathing criticism in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the Secretary of State, Edwin Montagu, and the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, rebuked him when he met them in Madras in 1918 to make a representation on the proposed political reforms.

Software patents under United Kingdom patent law

Citing as reasons this clear divergence in reasoning between the UK courts and the European Patent Office, Neal Macrossan sought leave to appeal the refusal of his patent application to the House of Lords.

Start the Week

The programme's prominence in Radio 4's schedule meant that Bragg's elevation to the House of Lords as a life peer necessitated Bragg's relinquishing of an involvement in the programme.

Stephen P. Nash

He became a trustee of the New York diocese and traveled to England to serve as an expert witness before the Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords on behalf of the Anglican Church in 1885.

Subsidiary title

Before the House of Lords Act 1999, which abolished the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, an heir apparent could be summoned to the Lords, before his parent's death, by a writ of acceleration – that is, by accelerating the inheritance of a junior title (usually a barony).

Sudanese teddy bear blasphemy case

In an attempt to push for the release of Gibbons, two British Muslim peers (members of the House of Lords), Lord Ahmed (Labour) and Baroness Warsi (Conservative), visited Sudan with hopes of talking to the country's President Omar al-Bashir.

Swan by-election, 1918

Forrest set out for England to accept the offer and take up his place in the House of Lords, but he died en route on 2 September 1918, off the coast of Sierra Leone, from cancer.

The Clifton House Mystery

The story of the Dragoon commander is based on the real-life case of Thomas Brereton, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Dragoons stationed in Bristol in the 1830s when riots broke out following the failure in the House of Lords of the Reform Bill.

The Joy Ride

However, Richard wants her sit in the Strangers Gallery in the House of Lords while he delivers an important speech, and then to go to tea with him and some friends afterwards.

Thomas Docwra

As the Lord of St John, Docwra was a senior lay baron with a seat in the House of Lords.

Thompson Cooper

In 1866 he began a long connection with The Times: he was the paper's parliamentary reporter 1866-1886, its summary-writer for the House of Commons 1886-98, and from 1898 its summary-writer for the House of Lords.

Trustee Act 2000

Reform in these areas had been advised as early as 1982, and finally came about through the Trustee Bill 2000, based on the Law Commission's 1999 report "Trustees' Powers and Duties", which was introduced to the House of Lords in January 2000.

Further papers were published on similar areas in 1997 and 1999, and finally the Trustee Bill 2000 was introduced to the House of Lords in January 2000, implementing the proposals laid out in the Law Commission's 1999 report "Trustees' Powers and Duties".

Vicky Pryce

In early July 2013 Vicky Pryce appeared as an expert witness before the House of Lords cross-party subcommittee on economic and financial affairs, saying she saw no quick end to the eurozone crisis since structural reform will take a long time.

Victor Hay, 21st Earl of Erroll

Victor Alexander Sereld Hay, 21st Earl of Erroll and 4th Baron Kilmarnock, KCMG (17 October 1876 – 20 February 1928), was a British diplomat and briefly a member of the House of Lords.

Vladimir Levin

Levin's lawyers fought against extradition to the US, but their appeal was rejected by the House of Lords in June 1997.

Wild Romance

A number of trials took place over the following years in Dublin, Edinburgh and in London at the House of Lords, and generated a large public interest through the media coverage that such a scandal solicited.

William James Scott

Scott, also known as Lord Campfield, was a member of the British House of Lords.

William Kerr, 3rd Marquess of Lothian

He succeeded to the Marquessate of Lothian in 1722 and was elected a representative peer in 1731, sitting in the House of Lords until 1761.

Wool bale

The existence of bales in ancient times is attested by the custom of the English Lord Chancellor to sit on the so-called Woolsack from which he presides over the House of Lords.

Wool-stapler

The importance of wool to the English economy can be shown by the fact that since the 14th Century, the presiding officer of the House of Lords has sat on the "Woolsack", a chair stuffed with wool.


Berezovsky v Michaels

Berezovsky v Michaels is an English libel decision in which the House of Lords allowed Boris Berezovsky and Nikolai Glushkov to sue Forbes for libel in UK courts, despite the allegedly libelous material relating to their activities in Russia.

Charitable immunity

In the House of Lords, Lord Cottenham, in dictum, pronounced that an award of damages out of a trust fund "would not be to apply it to those objects which the author of the fund had in view, but would be to divert it to a completely different purpose".

Charles Sanderson, Baron Sanderson of Bowden

He was created a life peer in June 1985 as Baron Sanderson of Bowden, of Melrose in the District of Ettrick and Lauderdale and speaks regularly in the House of Lords.

David Beamish

David Richard Beamish (born 20 August 1952; Carlisle, Cumbria, England) is a British public servant who has been the Clerk of the Parliaments, the chief clerk in the House of Lords, since 16 April 2011.

David Stoddart, Baron Stoddart of Swindon

He was expelled from the Labour benches in the House of Lords in 2002 for backing a Socialist Alliance candidate in the 2001 general election, an action he took because he strongly opposed the parachuting of Shaun Woodward, a defector from the Conservative Party, into a safe Labour seat.

Drambuie

In 1916, Drambuie became the first liqueur to be allowed in the cellars of the House of Lords, and Drambuie began to ship world-wide to stationed British soldiers.

Earl of Swinton

Lord Swinton notably served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard (deputy chief government whip in the House of Lords) from 1982 to 1986 in the Conservative administration of Margaret Thatcher.

Elect the Lords

Elect The Lords is a campaign established in September 2004 by the New Politics Network - a successor group to the Democratic Left - and Charter88 calling for the United Kingdom House of Lords to be replaced by a predominantly elected upper house.

George Hamilton-Gordon, 2nd Baron Stanmore

After succeeding his father in the barony in 1912 Stanmore served as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) under H. H. Asquith and then David Lloyd George from 1914 to 1922.

Graham Stringer

In January 2011 he called for Sir Alex Ferguson, a lifelong Labour voter, who led Manchester United to numerous football trophy successes since becoming manager in 1986, to be given a seat in the House of Lords.

Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave

In 1794 he was granted a British peerage as Baron Mulgrave, entering the House of Lords, and in 1796 he was made Governor of Scarborough Castle.

Ian Fells

He has been science adviser to the World Energy Council and special adviser to select committees of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons as well as serving on several Cabinet and Research Council committees.

John Bramston, the elder

On 16 April 1640, during the indisposition of the lord keeper Finch, Bramston presided in the House of Lords.

Labour Party of Northern Ireland

The Labour Party of Northern Ireland (LPNI) is a political party in Northern Ireland, formed in 1985 by a group around Paddy Devlin, a former Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor and Northern Ireland Assembly member, and Billy Blease, a member of the British House of Lords.

Limehouse Town Hall

On 30 July 1909 the Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George made a polemical speech in the assembly room, attacking the House of Lords for its opposition to his "People's Budget".

M'Naghten rules

The House of Lords asked a panel of judges, presided over by Sir Nicolas Conyngham Tindal, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, a series of hypothetical questions about the defence of insanity.

Mary Jeffries

During the 1870s, she ran one of the few brothels in Victorian-era London which catered exclusively to many of the city's elite including the prominent businessmen and politicians including at least one member of the House of Lords and a titled Guards officer as well as aristocrats such as Leopold II.

Maurice Towneley-O'Hagan, 3rd Baron O'Hagan

He was Assistant Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Tweedmouth from 1906 to 1907 and served in the Liberal administrations of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and later H. H. Asquith as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from 1907 to 1910.

Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal

Case notes critically analyse and evaluate rulings from the House of Lords, the Privy Council, the national courts of the Commonwealth States, the European Court of Justice, and the European Court of Human Rights.

Ribble Valley by-election, 1991

The Ribble Valley by-election, in Lancashire, England, was called in 1991 following the elevation of United Kingdom MP David Waddington to the House of Lords.

Roger Freeman, Baron Freeman

Narrowly defeated in the 1997 general election, he was shortly afterwards elevated as a life peer to the House of Lords and sits as Baron Freeman, of Dingley in the County of Northamptonshire.

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829

To overcome the vehement opposition of both the House of Lords and King George IV, the Duke of Wellington worked tirelessly to ensure passage in the House of Lords, and threatened to resign as Prime Minister if the King did not give Royal Assent.

Scottish devolution referendum, 1997

Board members included Donald Findlay, a QC, Rector of the University of St Andrews and vice-chairman of Rangers F.C., and senior Conservative peer Lord Fraser.

Sheila Noakes, Baroness Noakes

In January 2006 she moved, with Lord Phillips, an amendment to the Identity Cards bill which led to it being defeated in the House of Lords and sent back to the House of Commons.

Sir William Brereton, 1st Baronet

In 1699, a family dispute broke out between these heirs, when Susanna Brereton's daughter Mary, who had married John Levett Esq., a barrister of the Inner Temple, London, petitioned the House of Lords in London on behalf of Edward Ward, 11th Baron Dudley and 3rd Baron Ward, who was an infant when his father died, and whose guardianship had been held by Edward, Earl of Meath, and his wife, who was the aunt of the infant lord.

Viscount Caldecote

It was created in 1939 for the lawyer and politician Sir Thomas Inskip so that he could sit in the House of Lords and serve as Lord Chancellor.