Keys (The House of)

One of the three estates of the Isle of Man. The Crown in council. the governor and his council, and the House of Keys, constitute what is termed “the court of Tynwald.” The House of Keys consists of twenty-four representatives selected by their own body, vacancies are filled up by the House presenting to the governor “two of the eldest and worthiest men of the isle,” one of which the governor nominates. To them an appeal may be made against the verdicts of juries, and from their decision there is no appeal, except to the Crown in council. (Manx, kiare-as-feed, four-and-twenty.)

⁂ The governor and his council consists of the governor, the bishop, the attorney-general, two deemsters (or judges), the clerk of the rolls, the water bailiff, the archdeacon, and the vicargeneral.

The House of Keys. The board of landed proprietors referred to above, or the house in which they hold their sessions.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.