I try to balance questions about the Lords (the chamber or its members) with more general questions about Parliament. I revert this week to a previous topic, that of Parliament and war. During the Second World War, both Houses continued to meet (despite a large number of members being away on active service), the parties came together in support of the war effort and that support was essential to government. The government exercised enormous powers, but it could not afford to lose the support of any part of the House. As usual, the first two readers to supply the correct answers will be the winners.
1. On occasion, the two Houses met elsewhere in London than the Palace of Westminster. In a previous quiz, I asked where they met. (It was Church House, Westminster.) However, provision was also made initially for Parliament to meet outside London should such evacuation be necessary. What was the planned destination should such evacuation have taken place?
2. The chamber of the House of Commons was destroyed by enemy action on 10 May 1941. Who was the MP in charge of fire-watching that evening and who effectively made the decision to concentrate resources on saving Westminster Hall at the expense of the chamber?
3. On 3 September 1939, both Houses did something that they had not done since 1831. What was it?
4. Between 1940 and 1944, the House of Lords held 58 sittings in secret. Did the House of Commons hold more or fewer secret sittings than the Lords?
I am finding the quiz particularly difficult this time. I have only managed to locate an answer for question two (Colonel Walter Elliot MP).
I hope others fare better than I have done.
I can add one to what Jason Lower:
1.
2. Col. Elliot
3. Sat on a Sunday for substantive business.
4.
I guess it is for others to fill in the other two. If the answers come seriatim, does someone get to nip in and take credit by putting them together, or does the entire class fail the quiz?
Nice teamwork on four really hard questions. I can add another answer — without being entirely sure.
1.
2. Col. Elliot
3. Sat on a Sunday for substantive business.
4. Same number of secret sittings in HoC and HoL.
Search on with key words “The Official Reporter then withdrew” for the Lords and “Strangers withdrew accordingly” for the Commons. This gives 58 hits for each. However, one hit for Lords is in 1916, one for Commons in 1930. So both houses seem to have sat in private 57 times during 1940-1944, which doesn’t tally with Lord Norton’s 58. …?
If nobody can answer question 1, we can blame Macmillan for that: .
Links to online Hansard 1803–2005 missing.
For blaming Macmillan, search “HC Deb 19 February 1957 vol 565 c38W” and click on “Forward to…” once.
1. Harrogate
2. Col. Elliot
3. Sat on a Sunday for substantive business.
4. Same number of secret sittings in HoC and HoL.
I’m gussing.
Nope. Changed my mind.
1. Stratford-upon-Avon.
2. Col. Elliot
3. Sat on a Sunday for substantive business.
4. Same number of secret sittings in HoC and HoL.
Changed my mind to Q4. I’m saying fewer – 39 to be precise (but not necessarily accurate!). The source that says 39 for the Commons says the Lords held 56, not 58, I’m still confident it’s correct about it being fewer.
A highly intriguing quiz (and responses).
For some reason I thought the answer to Q1 was a country house in Oxfordshire or thereabouts, not v. far from Blenheim (or, as with government departments which were to be scattered about, to two country houses, one for each chamber) but I can’t be more precise and so am probably mistaken.
Q4 looks like 57 for the Commons (12 times in 1940, 18 times in 1941, 10 times in 1942, 11 times in 1943, 6 times in 1944).
Very well, it feels wrong to do it, but—
1. Stratford-upon-Avon
2. Col. Elliot
3. Sat on a Sunday for substantive business
4. Fewer
A particularly interesting quiz and exchange rendered even more curious… my late and limited post seems to have disappeared (browser history suggests it was #comment-128880).
I see your 128880 comment, you addressed Q1 and gave specific annual numbers for Q4.
Thanks. The awaiting moderation post (which I thought usually remained until it was up) had disappeared. One mystery partially solved!
1) Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare hotel for the Lords!)
2) Col Elliot
3) Sat on a Sunday for substantive business (that being, you know, the war)
4) More (62)
I thought this may prove a difficult quiz, but I had not anticipated that it would generate such interest and, indeed, such an excellent interaction among readers. Commendations to everyone who contributed. I can confirm that the reader to get all four answers correct is Matt Taylor. Chris K was the first to get three out of the four, followed by Rich.
In terms of the answers, there is nothing much to add to what has been contributed. Stratford-on-Avon was indeed the intended venue if Parliament had to leave London (but as the King was not prepared to leave London, it was felt that Parliament could not leave either), Walter Elliot made the decision to concentrate resources on saving Westminster Hall rather than the chamber of the Commons, both Houses sat on a Sunday to deal with substantive business (transacting crucial legislation), and the Commons held slightly more secret sessions than the Commons.
I shall now have to see if I can craft a similarly stimulating set of questions for the next quiz!
Good point about “cribbing” others’ partly-correct answers
(plagiarism)
put forward by Rich.
In other “class-rooms”, however, we are much more beset trying to figure
r out what women, and all of us, should best be doing today
(for our tomorrows
which active-serving-women in the Far East also “gave their todays, that we may all have”) ?