The usher of the Black Rod is an official in the parliaments of several countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. The title is often shortened to Black Rod, and in some countries, formally known as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod or Lady Usher of the Black Rod. The position originates in the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Equivalent positions exist in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Field Marshal Peter Anthony Inge, Baron Inge, was a senior British Army officer. He was the Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, from 1992 to 1994 and then served as Chief of the Defence Staff before retiring in 1997. Early in his military career he saw action during the Malayan Emergency and Operation Banner in Northern Ireland, and later in his career he provided advice to the British Government during the Bosnian War.
Field Marshal Michael John Dawson Walker, Baron Walker of Aldringham, is a retired British Army officer. Commissioned in 1966, he served in Cyprus, Northern Ireland, and in a variety of staff posts in the United Kingdom until 1984. After being given command of a battalion, he was mentioned in despatches for his service during a second tour of duty in Northern Ireland, this time in Derry, and subsequently served a tour on Gibraltar. He was promoted to brigadier, unusually having never held the rank of colonel, and took command of 20th Armoured Brigade in Germany before becoming I Corps chief of staff.
Sir Michael Alan Willcocks, is a retired officer of the British Army and former Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Lords.
Air Chief Marshal Sir George Holroyd Mills, was a senior Royal Air Force commander. After his retirement from the RAF, Mills served as Black Rod in the Houses of Parliament until 1970. He was also a trustee of the Imperial War Museum.
General Sir Nicholas Ralph Parker, is a former British Army officer who served as Commander Land Forces until December 2012.
Major-General Sir Joseph Michael Palmer, KCVO was a senior British Army officer. He was Defence Services Secretary from 1982 to 1985.
Lieutenant General Sir David George House was a British Army officer who was General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and later held the office of Black Rod at the House of Lords from 1978 to 1985.
Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Richard Viggers, is a former senior British Army officer who served as Adjutant-General to the Forces immediately prior to his retirement in 2008. He was Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod from 30 April 2009 to 28 October 2010. He also served in Bosnia in the aftermath of the breakup of Yugoslavia, and in the Iraq War.
Lieutenant General Sir Hew William Royston Pike is a retired senior British Army officer known for his service in the Falklands War and for his command in Northern Ireland.
Lieutenant General Sir Philip Charles Cornwallis Trousdell is a retired senior British Army officer who was General Officer Commanding Northern Ireland and Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rangers before advancing to high command and in that capacity was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue, is a retired British Army officer and former Chief of Defence Materiel. He retired from the service in December 2010, being succeeded as Chief of Defence Materiel by Bernard Gray.
General Sir Thomas Cecil Hook Pearson, was a senior officer of the British Army who served as Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces Northern Europe from 1972 to 1974. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living British full general.
Colonel Sir Charles Wyndham Murray, was a British Army officer and politician. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament MP for Bath from 1892 to 1906 and as Gentleman Usher of the Scarlet Rod of the Order of the Bath from 1913 until his death.
General Sir Richard Lawson Barrons, is a retired British Army officer. He was Commander Joint Forces Command from April 2013 until his retirement in April 2016.
Lieutenant General Sir George Pemberton Ross Norton, is a retired British Army officer. He was the UK Military Representative to NATO from 2016 to 2020, and has served as the Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies since 2020.
Lieutenant General Timothy Paul Evans, is a retired British Army officer, who served as Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst from 2012 to 2013 and then commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps from 2013 to 2016.
Lieutenant General Peter Thomas Clayton Pearson, is a former British Army officer who served as Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst from 2006 to 2007.
Major-General Arundell Rea Leakey, was an officer in the British Army. He served in the Royal Tank Regiment in the Second World War, in North Africa, Italy and France. He later served in Korea, in the Arab Legion, and commanded a brigade in the British Army of the Rhine in the 1960s. He served as Director-General of Fighting Vehicles and finally as the commander of British troops in Malta and Libya. He retired in 1966, and became Director of the Wolfson Foundation. An autobiography, Leakey's Luck, was published in 1999.
Sarah Davina Clarke is a British administrator. Since 13 February 2018, she has served as Black Rod, the first female Black Rod in the 650-year history of the role. The role is currently formally styled "The Lady Usher of the Black Rod"; for previous incumbents, "The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod" was used. She is also the first woman to hold the accompanying posts of Serjeant-at-Arms for the House of Lords, Secretary to the Lord Great Chamberlain and to be appointed an Officer of the Order of the Garter.
