UK Parliamentary Archives

• Held At: Parliamentary Archives: GB-061
• Catalogue Reference: HC/SA/SJ
• Accession Number: 1994
• Accession Number: 2622
• Accession Number: 3762
• Accession Number: 3812
• Accession Number: 3912
• Former Archival Reference: SAA
• Ref No: HC/SA/SJ
• Date: 1770-2008
• Level: Sub sub fonds
• Extent: 16 series
• Creator Name: House of Commons, Serjeant at Arms Department, 1414-
• Administrative or Biographical History: In 'The Officers of the Commons, 1363-1978' by Philip Marsden it says, 'By the seventeenth century the Serjeant's department was well established, and consisted of the Vote Office, the Deputy Housekeeper, two Doorkeepers, four Messengers and various watchmen and firelighters.' However it is not possible to put a date on when these offices were created (except that the Deliverer of the Vote was probably first appointed around 1682). There were 'ushers' or 'valets' and housekeepers in the Commons from an early date, and the first reference to the Serjeant as de facto 'Housekeeper of the Commons' is in 1549. There were fees payable for the various tasks of the Serjeant and the Housekeeper, and it seems that the Serjeant gradually accumulated a staff of doorkeepers and messengers who were also paid by fees (for delivering messages, serving summons, etc).
  Public General Act, 39&40 George III, c. 92 - 'An Act for establishing certain Regulations in the Offices of the House of Commons' - establishes a salary paid to the Serjeant and his Deputy. Public General Act, 52 George III, c. 11 sets out salaries, and says that the offices of Serjeant and of Housekeeper 'now are, and for a long time part have been holden conjointly by the same Person, and the Salaries, Wages, Fees and Emoluments appertaining to the Offices to holden, have been hitherto brought to account conjointly?' This also indicates the Serjeant/Housekeeper had been running a department for 'a long time' by 1812.
  There were further reforms across the Commons administration after a major committee investigation in 1833, which regulated fees and salaries in the Serjeant's department.
• Acquisition: The material has been transferred from the department in a series of deposits, the main accessions being 3762 and 3812 in 2000, and 3912 in 2001. A small number of historical items have been bought in auctions or donated: HC/SA/SJ/2/1-2 [accession 1994 in 1980] and HC/SA/SJ/2/3 [accession 2622 in 1990].
• Description: HC/SA/SJ contains records relating to the core duties of order, security and ceremony. The early series contain the oldest surviving documents from the department and show how the administration functioned during the 18th and 19th centuries. The letters books of HC/SA/SJ/1 illustrate the daily business of the Department whilst the internal workings are shown more by HC/SA/SJ/3 and HC/SA/SJ/5 which reflect efforts being made by the authorities to end traditional systems of patronage and favour within the Palace. There was marked resistance by some employees to its decline. In 1842 Mr Bellamy the deputy housekeeper wrote of his disappointment that his son would not be allowed to follow him in the post as he had followed his own father but was pleased to accept an annuity of £300 as a pension following his retirement from service [HC/SA/SJ/3/6]. HC/SA/SJ/8-13 contain the largest tranche of records transferred to the Record Office, covering the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. Within HC/SA/SJ/8 are correspondence and memoranda which reflect the Department's practical approach to change, including rules for photography within the house, the arrival of the telephone and instructions on the introduction of female MPs. HC/SA/SJ/10 covers the Serjeant's responsibility for security, HC/SA/SJ/11 holds files relating to ceremonial and state occasions within the Palace. HC/SA/SJ/12 contains additional documents on the Press Gallery and complements the contents of HC/SA/SJ/4 and HC/SA/SJ/5.
• Terms:
  • Palace of Westminster,
  • Law enforcement,
  • State Occasions,
• Appraisal Information: The records were appraised in 2002 by Monica Halpin. Ephemera and routine administrative office files were destroyed.
• Language: English
• System of Arrangement: The series were created to impose order and bring together related material. The original departmental order was retained where apparent and related material added in the appropriate chronological place.
• Related Material: For Speaker's Office reports and correspondence on the Department of the Serjeant at Arms see HC/SO/2/21-23, HC/SO/2/31-32, HC/SO/2/84, HC/SO/2/226.
• Related Record:
  • HC/SO/2,
• Access Status: Open
• Access Conditions: Some of the files contain sensitive personal data or information relating to security and permission to view must be sought from the Serjeant at Arms.
• Physical Description: The majority of this collection was declipped and conserved by NADFAS volunteers in 2003-2004. However, some files remained closed for security reasons and were not declipped.
• Publication Notes: The Officers of the Commons, 1363-1978, P Marsden, HMSO 1979.

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