Keys, House of

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Keys, House of. The elected chamber of the Tynwald, parliament of the Isle of Man. Dating back to Nordic times, when the island was the centre of a western sea empire including the Hebrides and the inner islands, it claims to be the oldest parliament in continuous existence. From early times there have been 24 members, self-chosen until 1866. Propertied women were given the vote in 1881, nearly 40 years before the rest of Britain. The House sits with the Council to form the Tynwald. The name is probably an English imitation of the Manx Yn Kiare-as-feed, the four and twenty.

J. A. Cannon

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