I mentioned in an earlier post Lord Rowlands’ booklet on the House of Lords in the early eighteenth century.  One notable feature of the House was that on occasion peers could sit in silence for fifteen or thirty minutes before anyone rose to say anything.

Another distintive feature was the existence of proxy voting.  An absent member could leave a proxy vote with another member and in some divisions proxy votes made a difference to the outcome.  Even in those days, political persuasion mattered and the tendency was to leave the proxy vote with a colleague of similar political outlook.  However, Lord Rowlands records at least one occasion where a peer voted on one side and cast a proxy vote on the other side. 

However, there were notable limitations on the use of such voting.  Proxy votes could not be used in Grand Committee, where much of the voting on amendments to Bills took place, nor could they be used on any judicial matter – an important area of activity at that time.

One other notable feature of proxy voting was how long the procedure remained in place.  It was not abolished until 1868.