Woolsack

Woolsack, the name given to the seat of the Lord Chancellor of England in the House of Lords, whose essential portion is a large square bag of wool without either back or arms, and covered with red cloth, the whole forming a kind of cushioned ottoman, standing near the centre of the chamber. It is believed that woolsacks were placed in the House of Lords in the time of Edward III. to remind the peers of the importance of England's staple trade. An Act of Henry VIII. directs that the Lord Chancellor, Lord Treasurer, or other high officer shall sit and be placed at the uppermost part of the sacks in the said parliament chamber, either there to sit upon one form or upon the uppermost sack. D'Ewes says the Lord Keeper sat on the woolsack in 1559, when her majesty (Queen Elizabeth) was absent; the other woolsacks being as now allotted to the other judges. It 1621 it was declared in the standing orders of the House of Lords that 'the Lord Chancellor sitteth on the Woolsack as Speaker to the House'—i.e. not in his judicial capacity. See Notes and Queries, 4th series, vol. iii. p. 384.