Photograph of the Speaker's Procession

One of the Serjeant at Arms' main ceremonial roles is to escort the Speaker from their state apartments to the chamber before each sitting of the House. This photograph is of a Speaker's Procession in 1906 and includes the Serjeant at Arms Sir Henry David Erskine. The Serjeant carries the Mace during the Speaker's Procession and the House can only sit and debate if the Mace is present. For early Serjeants the Mace acted as a symbol of the power of the Crown and would have allowed the Serjeant to make arrests without a warrant.