Council Chamber
	Chamber | Officers | Members | Work of the Council | Seating Plan
	The Legislative Council has its origins in the King of Man's Council of personal advisers. The Lord's Council, as it became, met in Castletown in that part of Castle Rushen which was adjacent to the present Court House. Major alterations to the Castle, particularly in the nineteenth century, now make its exact location uncertain. From the 1860s, Governors experienced various difficulties with their personal accommodation and the practice developed of the Council attending on the Governor at places convenient to his residence. Often this was in the Court House in Douglas, although various attempts were made by the Deemsters to re-establish Castletown as the permanent venue for the sittings. When the present building was acquired from the Bank of Mona in 1879, the Legislative Council was accommodated on the floor above the Keys Chamber. The Legislative Council Chamber has been remarkably little altered since it has been occupied by the Council. The Chamber is panelled in oak and the stained glass window in the north wall contains the Manx arms and the armorial bearings of the English Crown. Among the framed photographs which hang in the Chamber are photographs of all past Presidents of the Legislative Council who have presided over the Council in the present Chamber. As the Lieutenant Governor presided ex officio over the Council until 1980, they include photographs of all the Lieutenant Governors from Lord Loch, who was Lieutenant Governor from 1863 to 1882, to Rear Admiral Sir Nigel Cecil, who was appointed in 1980. In 1980, by virtue of the Constitution (Legislative Council) Amendment Act 1980, the Council elected a President from their own members. The photographs of the elected Presidents, the Hon J A C K Nivison CBE and R J G Anderson, also hang in the Chamber. The Council sit at a semi-circular table in the centre of which is the President's Chair, which was presented by the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia in celebration of the millennium of Tynwald. To the right and left of the President sit, respectively, the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man and HM Attorney General for the Isle of Man. The remaining members are seated in order of seniority, the more recently elected members sitting furthest from the President.