The last Speaker to be sacked

Further to my last post, my indefatigable researcher, Bethan, has been looking into the question of who was the last Speaker to be dismissed.

Much to my perhaps perverse delight, it would appear that it was none other than my old friend Sir John Trevor, who I mentioned in my maiden speech.

Trevor, who was afflicted with a severe squint (Members apparently never knew whether or not they had caught his eye), was a native of Denbighshire, and educated at Ruthin School. He was Speaker from 1685 to 1695, when he was impeached for taking a bribe. The History of Parliament sets out Trevor’s offence in some detail:

In private conversation Trevor had admitted accepting the money from the City following the passage of the London orphans bill in 1694, but argued that his actions did not constitute impropriety of any kind. Indeed, there is no direct evidence that Trevor actually did anything to further progress of the orphans bill, although the City had no doubt been willing to pay handsomely, if only to ensure the Speaker’s goodwill in the Chamber. However, Trevor’s outward assurance soon began to crumble. On 12 Mar 1695 Paul Foley I reported from the committee [appointed to investigate the allegations] that two years previously, on 12 Feb 1693, the common council of London had ordered that ‘Mr Chamberlain [should] pay to the Hon Sir John Trevor … the sum of one thousand guineas as soon as a bill be passed into an Act of Parliament for satisfying the debts of the orphans and other creditors of the said City’. The order was endorsed with the information that payment had indeed been made on 22 June 1694 in the presence of witnesses.

Amazingly enough, Trevor held the offices of Speaker and Master of the Rolls simultaneously. Even more remarkably, his expulsion from the Speaker’s chair did not prompt the loss of his judicial office; indeed, he remained Master of the Rolls until his death in 1717, which shows that, in those days at least, higher standards were expected of politicians than of judges.