Thread by @MiningNS

Some legislature trivia on provincial government budget day! Why does the legislature have a mace and where did it come from?
Read this thread to find out!

#nspoli #cbpoli #NovaScotia #capebreton #CB #NS @NSLeg @nsgov #gold #nsbudget

The @NSLeg mace was donated anonymously to the House on March 5, 1930 but the donor's name - Chief Justice Robert Edward Harris - was released after his death in 1931.
It is gilded sterling silver - #silver with a thin layer of #gold - four feet tall and weighs 18 pounds.
#nspoli

The mace was made in England by Elkington and Co. which pioneered electroplating in the 1830s, a process that bonds thin layers of a metal to the surface of another metal at the molecular level. Plating is often done to dress up a cheaper metal or to make it more durable.
#nspoli

Maces were weapons carried by the royal bodyguard when medieval English kings conducted assemblies. As the Speaker became responsible to the House rather than the King, the mace came to symbolize the Speaker's authority to conduct the business of the House.
#nspoli #cbpoli

The #NovaScotia legislature passed motions to get a mace in 1758, 1819 and 1840 but it wasn’t done. Until 1930, the Sergeant at Arms carried a sword instead.

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