THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY

  
 

The House of Assembly comprises 30 members elected by adult suffrage on the first past-the-post system. The Presiding Officer of the House of Assembly is the Speaker. Visitors to the public gallery are called Strangers. The House of Assembly usually meets on Tuesday, but if there is urgent business a meeting can be called on any other day. Senate usually sits on Wednesday.

Highlights of the House of Assembly

The Speaker's chair is a gift from the Government of India to the People of Barbados on attainment of our Independence on November 30, 1966.

The stained-glass-windows, which were manufactured in the 1870s by Clayton and Bell of the UK, feature the British Monarchs from 1603 to 1636 including Oliver Cromwell who was Lord Protector 1653-1958.

The life of a Parliament is for five years from its first sitting after a general election.

The Hallway

The main entrance to the House of Assembly has a Bust of Sir William Conrad Reeves the first black person to be knighted. His many achievements included many years of outstanding service in the practice of the law, as a law officer, as a member of the House of Assembly and 16 years as Chief Justice of Barbados. His career was a long record of faithful service to all classes of this country.

At the entrance to the Chamber is a list of all Members of the House of Assembly since adult suffrage in 1951.

Speakers of the House of Assembly

  
 

Col. Thomas Modyford

............1652; 1654; 1661-1654

Capt. George Martin

............1665

Lt. Col. Simon Lambert

............1660; 1669-1673

Col. John Burch

............1661

Samuel Farmer

............1665;1667

John Jennings

............1667

Henry Walrond

............1669-1671

Henry Skeete

............1672-1673

Col. Christopher Codrington

............1674;1678;1681;1682

Col. William Sharpe

............1676-1678; 1682-1683

Col. Richard

............1679-1681

Ricahrd Seawell

............1684-1685

John Reid

............1685-1687; 1689

John Farmer

............1687

Judge Foster

............1688-1689

J. Bromley

............1690-1691

John Sutton

............1690-1691

Wm. Foster

............1690

Robert Harper

............1690

John Mills

............1691-1692

Willoughby Chamberlaine

............1692-1693

Col. Waterman

............1693-1694

Abel Alleyne

............1694

Col. John Colleton

............1694-1695

Col. Robert Bishop

............1695-1696

Lt. Col. Thomas Maxwell

............1697-1700; 1702; 1703

James Colleton

............1700-1701

Lt. Col. Richard Downes

............1701-1702; 1708-1712

William Holder

............1703-1706

Wm. Wheeler

............1706-1707

Reynold Alleyne

............1712; 1714-1715

William Carter

............1712; 1714; 1715-1717

Edmund Sutton

............1717-1720

George Forester

............1722-1723

Henry Peers

............1727-1731; 1736-1740

John Lyte

............1740-1742; 1760-1767

Sir William Gibbons, Bart

............1742-1760

John Gay Alleyne, Bart

............1767-1770; 1772-1779

Samson Wood

............1770-1772; 1780-1787

Joshua Gittens

............1797-1804

John Beckles

............1804-1819

Thomas Griffith

............1819-1821

Cheeseman Moe

............1823-1825

Robert Haynes

............1825-1829

Col. Nathaniel Forte

............1829-1835

Samuel Hinds

............1836-1839

Sr. R.B. Clarke

............1839-1840

George Taylor

............1841-1846

Francis Gooding, M.B.

............1846-1847

Sir John Thomas

............1847-1860

Chas Packer

............1861-1867

Thomas Gill

............1867-1870

Edmund Lee Haynes

............1870

Agustus Briggs

............1871-1875

John Glasgow Grant

............1875-1879

George C. Pil

............1879-1880

Henry Pilgrim

............1880

John Kellman

............1881-1883

A.J. Pile, C.M.G.

............1883-1885; 1887-1889; 1891-1893; 1894-1898

Timothy Yearwood

............1886-1887

W.H. Greaves

............1889-1890

E.B. Colvin

............1891-1893

Sir F.J. Clarke, K.C.M.G., V.D.

............1898-1934

G.D.L. Pile, O.B.E.

............1934; 1937; 1942-1944

Sir. H.B.G. Austin, O.B.E.

............1934-1937; 1938-1942

G.B. Evelyn

............1944-1948

Sir K.N.R. Husbands

............1948-1956

Dr. H.G.H. Cummins, C.B.E.

............1956-1958

Sir J.E.Theodore Brancker, Q.C.

............1961-1966

N.G.A. Maxwell, Esq., LL.B.

............1971-1976

C.A.E. Hoppin, Esq., J.P.

............1976

W.C.B. Hinds, Esq.

............1976-1984

C. Lindsay Bolden, Esq., LL.B.

............1984-1986

Lawson A. Weekes, G.C.M., J.P., M.P.

............1986-1994

His Hon. Ishmael A. Roett, G.C.M., M.P.

............1994-1999; 1999-2004; 2004-2008

His Hon. Michael A. Carrington, M.P.

............2008-present