CAT newsletter - Mar 2015

6 Visiting Berewood Primary School in January, MP for Meon

Valley George Hollingbery was stumped by a question from

one of the youngest pupils who asked: Why are the Houses

of Parliament called houses when no-one lives in them?

Mr Hollingbery had to confess that he didn't know. The

question intrigued Peter Henley, the BBC's Political Editor for

the South of England, who sought the answer from the

information service at Parliament. 'But the closest they got

was to suggest that it may have been a different sort of house

- like the House of Tudor,' said Mr Henley.

A wonderfully tricky question then, but Dr Amanda

Richardson, Senior Lecturer in Late Medieval History at the

University of Chichester has the answer: 'When parliament

first met in the 14th century, Latin was used for official

business. The medieval Latin for 'House' is 'domus', which

didn't only mean a home, but also any building or chamber.

The medieval House of Lords always met in a room (or

'house/domus') at the Palace of Westminster - as did the

House of Commons from 1547. So the terms House of Lords

and House of Commons derive from their meeting-places and

they were together known as the Houses of Parliament

(domorum Parliamenti).'

Well done Olivia for testing the experts with your curiosity!

The BBC's report is online at:

When is a House not a house?

Member of Parliament tested at Berewood

George Hollingbery MP with Berewood pupils and Headteacher Sue Patrick

The Palace of Westminster and its 'Houses' in the 16th century