PP 2016/0099 TYNWALD HONOURS COMMITTEE FIRST REPORT FOR THE SESSION 2015-2016 TYNWALD HONOURS COMMITTEE FIRST REPORT FOR THE SESSION 2015-2016 There shall be a Standing Committee of the Court to consider nominations of deceased persons for inclusion in the Manx Patriots‘ Roll of Honour and to recommend to Tynwald the award of honours by the Court to living persons. The Committee shall be composed of the President, who shall be the chairman, the Speaker of the House of Keys and three Members. The Committee shall report to Tynwald at least once during the life of each House of Keys, but not necessarily to make a recommendation. Any recommendation made by the Tynwald Honours Committee shall be subject to the approval of a majority of the whole of Tynwald sitting in public and voting as one body. The Committee shall be responsible for the erection and ongoing maintenance of the Manx Patriots’ Roll of Honour which shall be maintained in a prominent position in the public part of the Precincts of Tynwald. A plaque shall be placed in a prominent position at a site in the Island appropriate to the person admitted to the Roll and the Committee may consider presenting a suitable memento to the family of the person concerned. The powers, privileges and immunities relating to the work of a committee of Tynwald are those conferred by sections 3 and 4 of the Tynwald Proceedings Act 1876, sections 1 to 4 of the Privileges of Tynwald (Publications) Act 1973 and sections 2 to 4 of the Tynwald Proceedings Act 1984. Committee Membership The Hon C M Christian MLC President of Tynwald ex officio (Chairman) The Hon S C Rodan SHK ex officio (Garff) Mr C G Corkish MBE MLC Mr D C Cretney MLC Hon R A Ronan MHK (Castletown) Copies of this Report may be obtained from the Tynwald Library, Legislative Buildings, Finch Road, Douglas IM1 3PW (Tel 01624 685520, Fax 01624 685522) or may be consulted at www.tynwald.org.im. All correspondence with regard to this Report should be addressed to the Clerk of Tynwald, Legislative Buildings, Finch Road, Douglas IM1 3PW. Table of Contents I. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................... 1 II. NAMES OF INDIVIDUALS PROPOSED FOR ADDITION TO THE MANX PATRIOTS' ROLL OF HONOUR ................................................................................................. 2 III. THE FORM OF THE MANX PATRIOTS' ROLL OF HONOUR ................................. 3 IV. COMMEMORATING TYNWALD HONOUR RECIPIENTS ..................................... 4 V. CONSOLIDATED LIST OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................ 5 VI. ANNEX A - MANX PATRIOTS’ ROLL OF HONOUR ............................................. 6 VII. ANNEX B - RECIPENTS OF THE TYNWALD HONOUR ........................................ 6 VIII. ANNEX C - EVENTS LEADING TO THE HOUSE OF KEYS ELECTION ACT 1866 ...... 7 IX. ANNEX D - BIOGRAPHIES .............................................................................. 13 ROBERT FARGHER (1803-1863) 13 JAMES BROWN (1815-1881) 18 SAMUEL NORRIS MHK MLC (1875-1948) 19 To: The Hon Clare M Christian, President of Tynwald, and the Hon Council and Keys in Tynwald assembled TYNWALD HONOURS COMMITTEE FIRST REPORT FOR THE SESSION 2015-2016 I. BACKGROUND 1. The Tynwald Honours Committee was established in December 1998 following Tynwald approval of all of the recommendations of the Select Committee on Manx Patriots. That Committee recommended that the Tynwald Honours Committee be established to vet nominations for inclusion in a Manx Patriots’ Roll of Honour for deceased persons and that: Any recommendation made by the Committee should be subject to the approval of a majority of the whole of Tynwald sitting in public and voting as one body. 2. The recommended criteria for inclusion on the Manx Patriots’ Roll of Honour are: (1) before the name of any person is recommended for inclusion in the Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour that person must be shown to have disinterestedly or self-sacrificially exerted himself or herself to promote the well-being of the Isle of Man; (2) no living person be considered for inclusion in the Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour; and (3) inclusion in the Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour be not restricted to persons born in the Island or of Manx parentage. 1 3. The Roll of Honour was duly established and the names of those on it are at Annex A. 4. In December 2002 the Select Committee on the Reduction of Standing Committees of Tynwald recommended that Tynwald be empowered to confer honours in its own right and that the Tynwald Honours Committee make recommendations about the awarding of honours to living Manx persons to Tynwald Court. 5. Recommendations setting out the criteria for the awarding of the Honour, the procedure for nomination of potentially suitable persons, the process for approval of such nominations and the procedure for presenting the Honour were set out in a report and approved by Tynwald Court in July 2005. The Tynwald Honour was first awarded in 2007 and the names of the recipients since then are at Annex B. II. NAMES OF INDIVIDUALS PROPOSED FOR ADDITION TO THE MANX PATRIOTS' ROLL OF HONOUR 6. This year the Committee has chosen to focus on the 150th anniversary of the House of Keys Election Act 1866 in considering possible additions to the Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour. A short history of the events leading to this legislation being enacted may be found in Annex C. 7. For each nominee we reviewed the biographical information set out in Annex D with reference to criteria set out in paragraph 2 above. 8. Manx born Robert Fargher was a relentless campaigner for democratic elections. A journalist he founded the Mona’s Herald in 1833 and was imprisoned on several occasions for his views. 9. James Brown came to the Isle of Man in 1846, in his early 30’s, he worked as a journalist and in 1861 he founded the Isle of Man Times. He consistently challenged the unrepresentative nature of the House of Keys. He was famously imprisoned by the Keys for libel in 1864 but released after it was ruled that the Keys did not have the powers to sentence him. 10. Samuel Norris moved to the Isle of Man when he was 19 and became a reporter with the Manx Sun. A vocal proponent for institutional reform, including that of 2 the Island’s legal and legislative systems he founded the Manx Reform League in 1903. He was jailed in 1915 in connection with his campaign for rates relief for tourist businesses. In 1919 he was elected to the House of Keys where he served three terms before moving to the Legislative Council. A lifelong campaigner many of his constitutional ideas were adopted following the MacDermott report in 1959. 11. We agreed to recommend that Robert Fargher, James Brown and Samuel Norris be considered for inclusion in the Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour with regard to their contribution to electoral and constitutional reform. Recommendation 1 That Tynwald approves the following for inclusion in the Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour: a. Robert Fargher (1803-1863) b. James Brown (1815-1881) c. Samuel Norris MHK MLC (1875-1948) III. THE FORM OF THE MANX PATRIOTS' ROLL OF HONOUR 12. We have considered previous recommendations regarding the way in which the Manx Patriots’ Roll of Honour should be presented and have noted that while the previous recommendation regarding a display within the Precincts of Tynwald has been completed, those regarding a Roll of Honour Book, commemorative plaques, presentation of a memento to the family, where appropriate, and inclusion on the Tynwald website have not. 13. The Chamber and Information Service are currently redrafting the information on the display screen in the Finch Road entrance of Legislative Buildings and have been asked, as part of this work, to ensure that a more detailed record of each recipient is included within a dedicated section of the Tynwald website. 14. With respect to a more permanent, commemorative Roll of Honour we explored options in relation to the previous recommendations of having a book and plaques. 3 15. We felt that a commemorative book was no longer a necessity as publishing the information on the Tynwald website offers a far more flexible and accessible way of providing easy access to the information, both in the Legislative Buildings and elsewhere. 16. We did however consider that a permanent, commemorative Roll of Honour was still a requirement and so we looked at the options for plaques. We found that, whilst possible, these may be difficult to locate and would require a long term maintenance commitment. So we discussed other options. 17. We concluded that a Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour Board located in a prominent position, for example at St Johns, would be a fitting alternative which would be easier to update and maintain in the long term. Recommendation 2 That Tynwald approves the creation of a Manx Patriots’ Roll of Honour Board, prominently located, as an alternative to commemorative plaques. IV. COMMEMORATING TYNWALD HONOUR RECIPIENTS 18. When considering a Roll of Honour Board we discussed the commemoration for Tynwald Honour recipients. In the past it has been assumed that Tynwald Honour recipients will be added to the Roll of Honour when they die. 19. We felt that the awarding of the Tynwald Honour is similar but separate and discussed how this may be commemorated. 20. We agreed that a separate Tynwald Honour section on the Tynwald website with information about each recipient would be appropriate for providing information; and further that a Tynwald Honour Board located close to the Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour Board would be a suitable commemoration. Recommendation 3 That Tynwald approves the creation of a Tynwald Honour Board, prominently located close to the Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour Board. 4 V. CONSOLIDATED LIST OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation 1 That Tynwald approves the following for inclusion in the Manx Patriots' Roll of Honour: a.