Washminster

Washminster
Washminster

Thursday 28 January 2010

A Journal kept for 500 years!

This month marks the anniversary of the House of Lords Journal. The very first entry is dated 21st January 1510. Until the end of March that first journal is on display in the Royal Gallery. My wife and I went to see it yesterday. This, and all subsequent journals are held by the Parliamentary Archives.

According to the Parliamentary website - "The Journal is the legal record of the proceedings of Parliament. Both the House of Lords and the House of Commons produce a Journal for each session. It is not a word for word record of everything spoken, but is a description of all the decisions taken. In the House of Commons, the Votes and Proceedings are consolidated into the Journals on a sessional basis and these form the authoritative record of the decisions of the House. In the House of Lords, the Journals are compiled from the Minutes of Proceedings by the Clerk of the Journals office ."

The Lords Journal for 2007-2008 can be read here.