Tag: house of commons

House of Commons3 Comments

GONE GRILLE: The removal of the Ladies’ Gallery Grilles

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‘The heavy brass trellis which then screened off these galleries, and their bad ventilation, made them quite unnecessarily tiring and even exhausting,’ Millicent Fawcett, writing in 1924.[1] On 23 August 1917, to the joy of many women, the grilles were removed from the windows of the Ladies’ Gallery in the House of Commons. Women had to watch debates separately from men in those days. In the early 19th century they had done so peering down from a ventilator in the attic above the Commons chamber; after the 1834 fire destroyed the old Palace of Westminster, a Ladies’ Gallery was created … Continue reading GONE GRILLE: The removal of the Ladies’ Gallery Grilles

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Rebels and Friends, Constance Markievicz and Eva Gore-Booth

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Guest post by Jacqueline Mulhallen  Rebels and Friends – a play about Constance Markievicz and Eva Gore-Booth, written by Jacqueline Mulhallen, directed by William Alderson, and produced by Lynx Theatre and Poetry In 1918 Constance Markievicz was the first woman elected to the British Parliament.  Because she was a a member of Sinn Fein, she did not take her seat, and there is some doubt whether she would have been eligible, though that question was not raised at the time! Instead, she became Ireland’s first minister of Labour under the illegal Sinn Fein Parliament in Ireland and the only female Cabinet Minister at … Continue reading Rebels and Friends, Constance Markievicz and Eva Gore-Booth

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Continuing a tradition: Women MPs who are widows of former Members

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The most recent woman to be elected as an MP is Gill Furniss who won the by-election in the constituency of Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough on 5 May 2016. She is the widow of Henry Harpham MP, who won the seat in the 2015 general election, but died on 4 February 2016. Ms Furniss served on Sheffield council for 16 years and made her maiden speech on 23 May 2016 during a debate on public services.[1]  There is a distinguished set of women MPs who won seats after the deaths of their husbands, who had previously held the seats, and … Continue reading Continuing a tradition: Women MPs who are widows of former Members

House of Commons

White gloves and hats: a woman Clerk in the House of Commons

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Clerks are the senior staff in many of the different offices in the House of Commons and House of Lords which support the work of the chamber and committees. During the Second World War, three women were appointed temporary Clerks in the House of Commons, in order to release men for war service, however by 1945 they had all departed. There were no more female Clerks until Jacqy Beston (now Jacqy Sharpe) and Alda Milner-Barry were appointed in 1969.  Jacqy Sharpe retired in 2015 after a long and successful career in the Clerk’s department, and shares her memories below. *** … Continue reading White gloves and hats: a woman Clerk in the House of Commons