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 1836 including Oliver Cromwell who was Lord Protector 1653-1658.
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.
- 2008-2013, 2013 - 2018
- His Honour Arthur E. Holder LL.B.,
- 2018 - Present
