An Act for better regulating the Office of Clerk of the Parliaments.
[21th June 1824]
WHEREAS His late Majesty King George the Third, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing Date at Westminster the Twenty-fourth Day of February, in the Twenty-third Year of His Reign, did grant unto Samuel Strutt Esquire, since deceased, the Office of Clerk of the Parliaments, to have, enjoy, and exercise the said Office unto him the said Samuel Strutt, by himself or his sufficient Deputy or Deputies, for the Term of his natural Life, immediately after the Decease of Ashley Cowper Esquire, since deceased, or when the said Office should then first become vacant; and by the said Letters Patent His said Majesty did grant unto George Rose Esquire, since deceased, the said Office of Clerk of the Parliaments, to have, enjoy, and exercise the said Office unto him the said George Rose, by himself or his sufficient Deputy or Deputies, for the Term of his natural Life, immediately after the Decease of the said Ashley Cowper and Samuel Strutt, or when the said Office should then first happen to become vacant: And whereas His said late Majesty, by Letters Patent bearing, Date the Twenty-fourth Day of October, in the Thirty-fifth Year of His Reign, did grant unto George Henry Rose, now the "Right Honourable Sir George Henry Rose, Son of the said George Rose, since deceased, the said Office of Clerk of the Parliaments, to have, enjoy, and exercise the said Office, unto him the said George Henry Rose, by himself or his sufficient Deputy or Deputies, for and during the Term of his natural Life, immediately after the Decease of the said George Rose, or when the said Office should first happen to become vacant, with a Salary of Forty Pounds a Year, payable as therein mentioned, and with all and all Manner of Liberties and Privileges anciently belonging to the said Office, and with all Profits, Advantages, Pre-eminences, and Emoluments whatsoever and howsoever belonging or appertaining to the same Office, and in as ample Manner and Form as the said Ashley Cowper, Samuel and George Rose, or any other Person or Persons then had and received, or ought to have had and received, in and for the Execution of the said Office : And whereas the said Sir George Henry Rose, and his Predecessors, as such Clerks of Parliament as aforesaid, have exercised and enjoyed the Right of nominating and appointing (subject to the Approbation of the Most Honourable the House of Lords) all the Clerks belonging to the said Office : And whereas the said Sir George Henry Rose, in accordance with the Wishes, and for promoting the Service of the said House of Lords, hath consented to relinquish such Right, (except as herein-after provided) ; and it is expedient that such Right should in future be exercised in the Manner herein-after provided, and that such further Regulations as herein-after mentioned should be made upon the Expiration of the existing Interests of the present Clerk of the Parliaments and the Clerk Assistant:
Be it there fore enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same,
That upon and immediately after the Expiration of the said last recited Letters Patent so granted to the said George Henry Rose as aforesaid, the Person then executing the Office of Clerk Assistant shall be and become Clerk of the Parliaments, and shall execute the Duties of the said Office in Person, and be removable by Address of the House of Lords to His Majesty for that Purpose.
And be it further enacted, That thereafter the Clerk of tine Parliaments shall be appointed by His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, but that such Clerk of the Parliaments so appointed shall also execute the Duties of the said Office in Person, and shall be removable by His Majesty, upon an Address of the House of Lords to His Majesty for that Purpose.
And be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act, the Nomination and Appointment (except as hereinafter provided) of the Clerk Assistant and other Clerks officiating at the Table of the House of Lords (except the Clerk of the Parliaments as aforesaid) shall be vested in and exercised by the Lord Chancellor or Speaker of the House of Lords for the Time being, but subject always to the Approbation of the said House of Lords, on such Appointments being duly notified to the House ; and that such Officers, when so appointed and approved, shall be removable only by Order of the said House of Lords.
Provided always, and be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the said Sir George Henry Rose, during his Life, and for such Person or Persons as he shall by any Writing: under his Hand nominate for that Purpose, in case of his Death, to appoint for one Turn only, and subject to the Approbation of the said House of Lords, on such Appointment being notified to the House, any Person duly qualified to any one of the said Offices at the Table or the House of Lords, which may become vacant by Death or Superannuation or Promotion, during the Life of the said Sir George Henry Rose, or within Twenty-one Years from the Time of his Death, except as to such Appointment as is hereby vested in His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors ; but after the Lord Chancellor or Speaker for the Time being of the said House of Lords shall have made on the Occasion of such Vacancy any Promotion in such Offices which he may deem expedient tor the Service of the House, or to such vacant Office, if no such Promotion shall be made.
And be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this Act, all the other Clerks, except as aforesaid, belonging to the said Office of Clerk of the Parliaments; (that is to say), the Clerk of the Journals, Copying Clerk, Clerk of the Engrossments, Clerk of the Inrolments, and the Writing Clerks under them, shall be nominated and appointed and removable at Pleasure, by the Person for the Time being executing the Office of Clerk Assistant, during the Existence of the said Patent so granted to the said Sir George Henry Rose as aforesaid, and afterwards by the Clerk of the Parliaments for the Time being executing in Person the Duties of the said Office, according to the Provisions herein-before contained.
And be it further enacted, That the said Sir George Henry Rose shall remain in full Possession of all the Rights, Profits, and Emoluments of his said Office (except as hereby otherwise provided) in the same Manner in all respects as if this Act had not been made; and that nothing herein contained shall in any Manner invalidate, abridge, or alter the said recited Letters Patent, or the Rights of the said Sir George Henry Rose, derived under or from the same, except as is hereby expressly provided; and that Henry Cowper Esquire, the present Clerk Assistant, shall remain in full Possession of all the Rights, Profits, and Emoluments of his said Office as heretofore, so long as he shall continue to hold the said Office ; but that if the said Office shall at any Time or Times become vacant during the Existence of the said Patent so granted to the said Sir George Henry Rose as aforesaid, then and so often as the same shall happen during the Existence of the said Patent, the Person to succeed to the said Office of Clerk Assistant shall be nominated and appointed by the Crown, and be removable in like Manner as is herein-before provided with respect to the Office of the Clerk of the Parliaments.