The Gentleman or Lady Usher of the Black Rod, often shortened to Black Rod, is a senior parliamentary officer in the House of Lords responsible for ceremonial protocol, maintaining order, and controlling access to the chamber and its precincts.
Black Rod is also an officer of the Order of the Garter and serves as secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain and as Serjeant-at-Arms of the House. Black Rod is best known for the ceremony at the State Opening of Parliament, in which Black Rod summons members of the House of Commons to attend the monarch's speech in the House of Lords. As part of the ceremony, the doors of the Commons chamber are closed before Black Rod, who then strikes the door three times with the staff of office before the Commons admits Black Rod.
Equivalent offices exist in several other Westminster-style legislatures, including in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the Cook Islands.
Origin
The office was created in 1350 by royal letters patent, though the current title dates from 1522. The position was adopted by other members of the Commonwealth when they adopted the British Westminster system. The title is derived from the staff of office, an ebony staff topped with a golden lion, which is the main symbol of the office's authority.
A ceremonial rod or staff is a common symbol indicating the authority of the office holder. Depictions of ancient authority figures in many cultures include such a rod (alternatively called a sceptre). Another early example is the fasces (a bound bundle of rods) carried by guards ("lictors") who accompanied high-level officials in the Roman Republic and later Empire.
Originally The Office of the Black Rod had no direct connection with Parliament and was associated with the Order of the Garter. By the early 16th century, an usher of the Parliament Chamber was holding the office of Black Rod as well, and the two positions became increasingly connected. By the 17th century, the parliamentary functions of Black Rod had become firmly established, contributing to the office's development into a senior official of the House of Lords.
By country Ushers of the Black Rod are typically responsible for arresting any senator or intruder who disrupts the proceedings.
United Kingdom
Appointment Black Rod is formally appointed by the Crown based on a recruitment search performed by the Clerk of the Parliaments (who is the employer of all House of Lords officials). As well as being an officer of the House of Lords, Black Rod is an officer of the Order of the Garter; they are appointed by letters patent under the Garter Seal. Black Rod also acts as Secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain by virtue of which they oversee certain ceremonial arrangements and day-to-day management of the Royal parts of the Palace of Westminster. Black Rod also holds the office of Serjeant-at-Arms, to which they are separately appointed by letters patent under the Great Seal; it is in this capacity that Black Rod attends upon the Lord Speaker. Black Rod's deputy is the Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod and Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms.
Since 8 July 2025, the post of Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod has been held by Lieutenant General Edward Davis; he is the first Royal Marine to hold the post.
Official duties
Black Rod is principally responsible for controlling access to and maintaining order within the House of Lords and its precincts, as well as for ceremonial events within those precincts. Previous responsibilities for security, and the buildings and services of the Palace of Westminster, have been passed, respectively, to the Parliamentary Security Director (as of the post's creation in January 2016) and Lords Director of Facilities (as of that post's creation and the retirement of the then-Black Rod in May 2009).
Black Rod's official duties also include responsibility as the usher and doorkeeper at meetings of the Most Noble Order of the Garter; the personal attendant of the Sovereign in the Lords; as secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain and as the Serjeant-at-Arms and Keeper of the Doors of the House, in charge of the admission of strangers to the House of Lords. Either Black Rod or their deputy, the Yeoman Usher, is required to be present when the House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament, is in session, and plays a role in the introduction of all new Lords Temporal in the House (but not of bishops as new Lords Spiritual). Black Rod also arrests any Lord guilty of breach of privilege or other Parliamentary offence, such as contempt or disorder, or the disturbance of the House's proceedings. Their equivalent in the House of Commons is the Serjeant at Arms.
Former Black Rod David Leakey said that 30% of his work as Black Rod was within or for the House of Commons.
Black Rod, along with their deputy, is responsible for organising ceremonial events within the Palace of Westminster, providing leadership in guiding the significant logistics of running such events.
Ceremonial duties Mace Black Rod is in theory responsible for carrying the Mace into and out of the chamber for the Speaker of the House of Lords (formerly the Lord Chancellor, now the Lord Speaker), though this role is delegated to the Yeoman Usher and Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, or on judicial occasions, to the Lord Speaker's deputy, the Assistant Serjeant-at-Arms.
State Opening of Parliament
Black Rod is best known for their part in the ceremonies surrounding the State Opening of Parliament and the Speech from the throne. Black Rod summons the Commons to attend the speech and leads them to the Lords. The door of the House of Commons is traditionally shut in Black Rod's face, symbolising the Commons' independence from the monarch.. Black Rod then strikes the door three times with their staff, and is then admitted and issues the summons of the monarch to attend.
This ritual also happens whenever the Lords have a commission to be read and Black Rod summons MPs to hear it. For example, on Tuesday 17 December 2019 this ritual happened twice.
It is commonly assumed to be derived from the attempt by Charles I to arrest Five Members in 1642, in what was seen as a breach of the Constitution; this and prior actions of the King led to the Civil War. However, there is evidence that at least elements of it existed much earlier; only elusive mentions are made in journals of the house and in private diaries of the Commons being summoned by order of the monarch, but not how, although it is implied to be an ancient practice. On at least one notable occasion in March 1629, Black Rod was kept out of the chamber by members who wanted to finish business. A detailed description of the ceremony exists from 1679, written by Edward Carteret to instruct his deputy Thomas Duppa, and is very similar to the present custom, except that the doors may have been left closed at the arrival of Black Rod rather than slammed before him, and he is told to knock "four or five times" rather than three.
The ritual is widely interpreted to symbolise the independence of the Commons from the Sovereign and their rights to question the right of his representatives to enter their chamber, although they cannot bar them from entering with lawful authority. It may have been inspired by the proclamation of a new monarch at Temple Bar, the ceremonial entrance to the City of London, before which the royal messengers had to obtain from the lord mayor and aldermen to open the doors and let them in. However, Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice states that this is to allow the Commons to ascertain Black Rod's identity.
List of Black Rods in England, Great Britain and the UK from 1361
This list is derived from one published by the Parliamentary Archives in 2011, with alterations from later research.
c.1361–1387: Walter Whitehorse 1387–1399: John Cray 1399–1410: Thomas Sy 1410–1413: John Sheffield 1413–1415: John Athelbrigg 1415–1418: William Hargroave 1418–1423: John Clifford 1423–1428: John Carsons 1428–1459: William Pope 1438–1459: Robert Manfield (joint) 1459–1461: John Penycok 1461–1471: Vacant ? 1471–1485: William Evington 1483–1485: Edward Hardgill (joint) 1485–1489: Robert Marleton 1489–1513: Ralph Assheton 1495–30 December 1511: Hugh Denys (jointly with Assheton until Denys's death) 1513–1526: Sir William Compton 1526–1536: Henry Norreys 1536–1543: Anthony Knyvett 1543–1554: Sir Philip Hoby 1554–1565: John Norreys 1554–1591: Sir William Norreys (joint) 1591–1593: Anthony Wingfield (d. 1593) 1593–1598: Simon Bowyer 1598–1620: Richard Coningsby 1605–1620: George Pollard (joint) 1620–1642: James Maxwell 1642–1649: Alexander Thayne (as recognised by Parliament); jointly with James Maxwell until c. 1646. The Lords was abolished in 1649 and Thayne made a claim to the title at the Restoration in 1661, but was denied. 2 March 1645 – 1661: Peter Newton (as recognised by the Royalists; Edward Ellis discharged the duties in 1642 and Newton in 1644, but neither seems to have been formally appointed at the time.) 1671–1675: Sir John Ayton 1671–1683: Sir Edward Carteret 1683–25 April 1694: Sir Thomas Duppa 1694–25 August 1698: Sir Fleetwood Sheppard 5 December 1698 – 1 June 1710: Admiral Sir David Mitchell 1710–1718: Sir William Oldes 1718–1727: Sir William Sanderson, 1st Baronet 1727–1747: Sir Charles Dalton 1747–1760: Sir Henry Bellenden 1760 – 6 September 1765: Sir Septimus Robinson 1765 – 1812: Sir Francis Molyneux, 7th Baronet 1812 – 25 July 1832: Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt 25 July 1832 – 8 February 1877: Admiral Sir Augustus Clifford 3 May 1877 – 23 June 1883: General Sir William Knollys 24 July 1883 – 7 October 1895: Admiral Sir James Drummond 16 December 1895 – 23 July 1901: General Sir Michael Biddulph August 1904 – 16 December 1919: Admiral Sir Henry Stephenson January 1920 – 14 May 1941: Lieutenant-General Sir William Pulteney October 1941 – 15 August 1944: Air Chief Marshal Sir William Mitchell January 1945 – 18 January 1949: Sir Vice-Admiral Geoffrey Blake 18 January 1949 – 18 June 1963: Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Horrocks 18 June 1963 – October 1970: Air Chief Marshal Sir George Mills October 1970 – 18 January 1978: Admiral Sir Frank Twiss 10 January 1978 – January 1985: Lieutenant-General Sir David House January 1985 – January 1992: Air Chief Marshal Sir John Gingell January 1992 – 8 May 1995: Admiral Sir Richard Thomas 9 May 1995 – 8 May 2001: General Sir Edward Jones 9 May 2001 – 30 April 2009: Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Willcocks 30 April 2009 – 28 October 2010: Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Viggers 21 December 2010 – 21 December 2017: Lieutenant-General David Leakey 12 February 2018 – 8 July 2025: Dame Sarah Clarke 8 July 2025 – present: Lieutenant-General Edward Davis
List of Serjeants-at-Arms of the House of Lords Technically the serjeant-at-arms was an officer of the Lord Chancellor (the former presiding officer of the House of Lords), rather than of the House of Lords. He was appointed by the Sovereign "to be Serjeant-at-Arms in Ordinary to Her [or His] Majesty" and "to attend the Right Honourable the Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper or Lord Commissioner for the Great Seal of the Realm for the time being". He was appointed for life until 1713 and during good behaviour thereafter, originally receiving a daily remuneration and from 1806 an annual salary. The post was merged with that of Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod in 1962, and with that of Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod in 1971.
The following is a list of Serjeants-at-Arms to the Lord Chancellor since 1660:
1660: Humphrey Leigh 1668: Edward Wood (in Extraordinary; did not succeed to the reversion) 1671: Sir George Charnock (in Extraordinary) 1673: Sir George Charnock (in Ordinary) jointly with Roger CharnockChris Cook and John Stevenson, British Historical Facts 1688–1760 (1988) p. 97. 1697: Drew Sowle 1713: Sarles Goatley 1713: Charles Stone 1716: Francis Jephson