Every object tells a story

The archive collections of Parliament mainly consist of paper and parchment records from Acts of Parliament and deposited plans to journals and letters. But you can also find an interesting variety of physical objects within the collection, so here is a selection of eight objects which can shine a light on the inner workings of parliament as well as more personal stories.

 

Tracey gravestone

One of the stranger objects we hold in our collection are broken pieces of a gravestone. There are 24 pieces in total. In 1845, James Tracey submitted the gravestone as supporting evidence for his claim to a hereditary peerage. The claim was for the peerage of Baron and Viscount Tracey of Rathcoole, County of Dublin which had been vacant since the death of the 8^th Viscount Henry Leigh Tracey in 1797. James Tracey claimed himself as a legitimate heir by connection through the third son, William Tracey, of the 2^nd Viscount Robert Tracey.

 

The name and date on the gravestone was supposedly the third son William Tracey, who died in 1734 but not all is as it seems. A witness testimony from Patrick Holton stated that he had been employed by James Tracey in 1844 to carve the gravestone, break it with a sledgehammer and then smoke it over a fire to ‘age’ the stones. However, James Tracey died before the committee could further investigate and verify the stones, so the authenticity of the gravestone pieces was never confirmed. Nevertheless, the gravestone pieces have stayed in our collection accompanied by an interesting story.

 

Wartime Helmet

There are several objects in the collection that connect to Parliament during wartime. During World War Two, the Palace of Westminster had its own serving home guard, which had duties including fire-watching, working observation posts and military drills. Within the records of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Committee is this protective helmet, with the Westminster portcullis emblem, it belonged to the Palace of Westminster wartime defence force.

 

You can see similar helmets in use in this 1940 photograph of The Lord Chancellor, Lord John Simon and House of Commons Speaker, Colonel Clifton Brown, inspecting the Palace of Westminster Home Guard.

 

 

Hooded Lantern

Found in the same ARP Committee file series as the helmet is this bicycle lantern. It belonged to Senior Clerk Strathearn Gordon, the lantern has a label with the Westminster portcullis emblem and reads “House of Commons Public Bill Office”. It is a hooded bicycle lamp, the angled hood deflects the light from the lamp downwards which allowed Strathearn Gordon to subtly light the way when cycling to and from work in Parliament during wartime blackouts. These blackouts were a common wartime precaution during the Blitz, limiting outdoor lighting to prevent enemy aircraft from identifying bomb targets. This lantern gives a picture of what it was like for the people working in the offices of Parliament during World War Two.

 

 

Margaret Herbison

The Parliamentary Archives holds a variety of personal papers, these collections include mostly political papers and personal correspondence, but they can also contain interesting miscellaneous items and paraphernalia. These items give an insight into the person they belonged to as well as the period they are from. The personal papers collection of Margaret Herbison, Labour MP for North Lanarkshire 1945–1970, were found in a staff desk in 2005 after it had been in store since the 1950s. Like many of us, Margaret had left some forgotten odds and ends in her desk drawers which can provide a little snapshot of day-to-day life in Parliament in the mid-twentieth century.

 

 

In addition to meeting papers, letters and pamphlets were several personal items, including her briefcase, coin purse and diary from 1947 inscribed with her name on the front. Lastly, we have a calendar with a portrait of Clement Attlee celebrating the Labour Party’s 50^th anniversary of its founding in 1900.

 

 

Bessie Le Cras

Personal papers can also offer different perspectives on how individuals interact with Parliament.  Not everyone working within parliament is an MP, member of the House of Lords or a member of staff. For example, we hold the personal papers of Mrs Bessie Le Cras a parliamentary agent for Nancy Astor MP, who in 1919 became the first female MP to sit in the House of Commons. Mrs Le Cras worked for Lady Astor until at least 1924. The papers include letters, election material, newspaper clippings and two badges belonging to Bessie, a WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union) badge and a Women’s Section British Legion badge.

 

 

 

The WSPU badge dates to 1909 during the height of the suffragette movement and the Women’s Section of the British Legion was formed in 1921 to protect the interests of widows and families of ex-servicemen. These two small badges indicate that Bessie was a long-serving advocate for women’s issues.

 

Despatch Box

Despatch boxes were boxes used by MPs to take important documents into the House of Commons Chamber. This box was used by Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, the only Prime Minister to be assassinated, marked with his initials ‘SP’ on the box. It is said that Perceval was carrying this box at the time of the murder. Find out more about The Remarkable Career of Spencer Perceval, archives.blog.uk

 

 

Today, two despatch boxes permanently reside on the central table in the House of Commons table where frontbenchers make their addresses. These despatch boxes were a gift from New Zealand to replace the boxes destroyed during the World War Two bombings, their design was based on the despatch boxes gifted to the Australian parliament in 1927, which in turn had been based on Pugin’s original despatch boxes.

 

Waistcoat

We have several examples of parliamentary staff uniforms, including this waistcoat from the Serjeant-at-Arms file series. It was paired with a jacket and dates to 1969 according to the label attached to the waistcoat which indicates they are items ‘For Sample’ from the Ministry of Public Building and Works. As suggested by the label they are sample uniform clothing patterns for a House of Commons porter, you can see details such as the Westminster portcullis emblems on the gilt buttons of the waistcoat.

 

 

Ceremonial Sword

One of the more impressive objects within our collection is held in the Black Rod’s papers sub-series within the records of the Lord Great Chamberlain. This traditional sword is part of the Black Rod’s ceremonial uniform. The sword is inscribed ‘Secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain’ one of the several titles and duties of Black Rod. Their formal title is the Lady or Gentlemen Usher of the Black Rod, they are a senior officer in the House of Lords and maintain order within the House of Lords Chambers.

 

 

This sword would have been part of Black Rod's ceremonial outfit, used in the annual State Openings of Parliament. Black Rod has a significant part in the ceremony, as they use their official black rod (which gave the role its name) to knock on the door of the House of Commons to summon the MPs to the House of Lords chamber to hear the monarch’s speech address. You can see a similar sword worn by the Black Rod Sir Edward Jones in this photograph from the 1997 State Opening of Parliament.

 

 

For an archive that contains largely paper and parchment records, we do hold a variety of physical objects from the despatch boxes used to hold some of these papers, to more personal items like Bessie Le Cras’ badges and Strathearn Gordon’s wartime bicycle lamp, and from the height of parliamentary ceremony with the Black Rod’s sword to the stranger Tracey gravestone. All of these objects can tell their small part of parliament’s story.