The Ladies’ Gallery, House of Commons and Imperial War Museum, London

What do the Ladies’ Gallery, House of Commons, and the Imperial War Museum, London have in common?

Swansea new constituency at the time of the Third Protectorate Parliament, which sat for one session from 27^th January to 22^nd April 1659, was represented by William Foxwist, the Welsh judge.  The Third Protectorate Parliament proceeded the Second Protectorate Parliament, and then returned to the Rump Parliament

Swansea constituency was disqualified, 1659

It was not until the creation of the new constituency of Swansea District of Boroughs a borough constituency, in 1832, when John Henry Vivian was the Whig Member of Parliament for 22 years.  In the Elections dating from 1832 to 1852, Vivian was unopposed.  It was not until his death in 1855, following the bi-election of 27^th February, Lewis Llewellyn Dillwyn, Whig Member of Parliament was elected.

"a wet Quaker"
Dillwyn as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in
Vanity Fair, May 1882

Dillwyn, before he became a Member of Parliament had made a name for himself, along with his brother, John Dillwyn Llewellyn, played a prominent role in preventing the Rebecca riots, 1839/43, from engulfing into Glamorgan from the neighbouring Carmarthenshire. 

Dillwyn served as Member of Parliament for 37 years, the longest serving MP for Swansea to date.   Dillwyn won all the election unopposed, apart from the 1874 Election, when Conservative candidate Charles Bath stood.

1885 Swansea seat was split into two, forming Swansea District and central part of Swansea borough, as Swansea Town.

It was Swansea Town, that Dillwyn served for another 6 years as the Member of Parliament.  With the forthcoming Elections of 1892, 78-year-old Dillwyn, had every intention of contesting in Elections.  Swansea Conservatives nominated F. Ormesby-Fore as the candidate.  18^th June, whilst attending a meeting Dillwyn was taken ill, he died the following day at Royal Hotel, Swansea.

Lewis Llewellyn Dillwyn, grandfather William Dillwyn, whom campaigned alongside William Wilberforce for the abolition of the slave trade.

Ormesby-Fore stood down as the Conservative candidate for the 1892 Election, he was replaced by Sir John Dillwyn-Llewelyn, nephew of the late Lewis Llewellyn Dillwyn.  The Liberal candidate was Robert Burnie who popular amongst the working class.  Burnie launched his campaign at the Albert Hall, with a public meeting.

Robert John Dickson Burnie

Before being elected as an Member of Parliament, Robert John Dickson Burnie, who had served as Mayor of Swansea and Chairman of the Harbour Trust.  He had to stand when Swansea became a County Borough in 1889.  At the time of the General Elections of 1895, Burnie stood down as candidate due to his opposition to the Southern African War.

1895, the Conservative candidate Sir John Dillwyn-Llewellyn succeeded as Member of Parliament after defeating Burnie.

 

"Swansea"
As caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in 
Vanity Fair, October 1900

Dillwyn-Llewellyn was the son of photographer John Dillwyn Llewelyn.  Dillwyn-Llewellyn only served as MP for 5 years.  However, he remembered for his sporting connections, including the position of captain of the South Wales Cricket Club, and elected as president of the Welsh Rugby Union, in 1885.  Keeping this position until 1906.  He paid the boundary wall, which is still standing at St. Helens Cricket Club.

The 1900 General Election, the Liberal candidate, George Newnes was elected as Swansea Member of Parliament.  As a wealth newspaper magnate outweigh his political skills. 

George Newnes

Before being elected as an Member of Parliament George Newnes, began his career in publishing, when he founded Tit-Bits in 1881.  The magazine paved the way for journalism, including Alfred Harmsworth the founder of the Daily Mail and Arthur Pearson founded of the Daily Express. 

Newnes built a house at Lynton, North Devon.  He built an innovative cliff railway connecting the two towns, Lynton and Lynmouth.

His company, George Newnes Ltd continued publishing ground-breaking magazines after his death. 

The new decade, 1910, saw two elections.  The first one, held January/February, was called amid a constitution crisis caused by the rejection of the People’s Budget.  The Budget had been introduced by the Chancellor David Lloyd George.  Newnes had been replaced by the Liberal Alfred Mond, whom was an industrialist and financier.  The first election resulted in hung parliament.

The second election of 1910, was held December.  This was the last election before the outbreak of the First World War.  The Conservatives won by a large number of votes.  

Alfred Mond

Alfred Mond had been subject to anti-Semitic attacks by the Conservatives, who claimed that he was an unsuitable representative for the nonconformist Swansea middle-class. 

The Representation of the People Act 1918, passed reforms to the electoral system.  The constituency of Swansea was abolished, forming the constituency of Swansea West. Mond remained a Swansea Member of Parliament until 1923.

 

 

 

 

 

Two years after the creation of the new Swansea constituency in 1832, The Palace of Westminster was largely destroyed by fire. The fire which started in the October 1834 was caused by the burning of small wooden tally sticks which had been used part of the accounting procedures of the Exchequer until 1826.   The fire rapidly spread through the complex developing into the biggest blaze in London.  The fire lasted all night, the worse since the Great Fire of London, 1666.  Building that were lost were the House of Commons, the Lords Chamber, the Painted Chamber, and official residences of the Speaker and the Clerk of the House of Common.

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, (1834/35)
J.M.W. Turner
 

Charles Barry

1836, Charles Barry, architect, won for his designs of the new palace.  Barry’s plans were in collaboration with Augustus Pugin.  His building established the Gothic Revival.  This is the building that we see today.

Part of the new build was the Ladies’ Gallery. The gallery had windows, covered by heavy metal grille making it hard for those in the room to hear and see, down in House of Commons.  The Commissioner of Works received a petition on 14^th May 1917. 

The Ladies' Gallery, House of Commons (1870)

 

With the Representation of the People Act having been cleared the committee stage in the Commons in June 1917.  Two months later, the Commons voted for the removal of the grilles in the Ladies Gallery, work carried out on the 23^rd August 1917 at a cost of £5.

The Cambria Daily Leader
29th August 1917

Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder
8th March 1919

February 1917, the Commissioner of Works, wrote to the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, with proposal of establishing a National War Museum.   The proposal was accepted by the War Cabinet.  A committee was established, it was chaired by the Commissioner of Works, overseeing the collection of items that was going to exhibited in the new museum.  A collection for the museum was started in Swansea.

The museum was finally opened by King George V on 9^th June 1920.

Who was the Commissioner of Works, the answers lie in the additional newspaper articles?