The Tynwald (Manx: Tinvaal), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald (Manx: Ard-whaiyl Tinvaal) is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It is claimed to be the oldest continuous parliamentary body in the world, consisting of two Houses: the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Legislative Council.

The Houses sit jointly, on Tynwald Day at St John's for largely ceremonial purposes, and usually once a month in the Legislative Buildings in Douglas. Otherwise, the two Houses sit separately, with the House of Keys originating most legislation, and the Legislative Council acting as a revising chamber.

Etymology

The name Tynwald, like the Icelandic Þingvellir and Norwegian Tingvoll, is derived from the Old Norse word Þingvǫllr meaning the meeting place of the assembly, the field (vǫllr→wald, cf. the Old English cognate weald) of the thing.

Tynwald Day

When Tynwald meets annually (normally on 5 July) at an open-air ceremony at Tynwald Hill at St John's, the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man presides, unless HM The Queen as Lord of Mann, or a member of the Royal Family representing Her Majesty, is present. Here, all laws are promulgated and special petitions are received.

TSS (RMS) Tynwald (V), No. 165248, was a passenger vessel operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company from 1947 to 1974, and was the fifth vessel in the history of the line to bear the name.

History

Tynwald was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in 1947, at a cost of £461,859 (£16,138,991 in 2016).

The third of the six sisters, Tynwald was virtually identical to her two predecessors King Orry and Mona's Queen except for her tonnage, which was 2490. Her dimensions, speed and horsepower, also crew accommodation, matched the Snaefell and Mona's Isle.

Incidents

There was one accident in her history when she sank the barge Elanor in the Mersey on 25 February 1952.

Service life and disposal

She was popular and considered to have done a very sound job for the Company, and she continued to give service until 1974 when she was withdrawn from the fleet in August. By this time, the newer car ferries in the company were taking the bulk of the passenger traffic, and therefore it was viable to reduce the number of passenger vessels from eight to seven.

TSS (RMS) Tynwald No. 165281 was a passenger vessel which served with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company from 1937 until she was requisitioned for war service at the end of 1940, — the fourth ship in the line's history to bear the name. She was sunk in late 1942 by either a mine or a torpedo.

Design and construction

Tynwald and her identical twin Fenella were both built by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, and both were launched on the same day, 16 December 1936.

Tynwald had a gross registered tonnage of 2376t, a beam of 46', a length of 314'6", a draught of 18' and a design speed of 21 knots. Both Tynwald and her sister Fenella, had crew accommodation for 68, and a capacity for 1968 passengers.

Steam Packet Company service

Like her sister ship Fenella, Tynwald was intended primarily to be used on the winter service between Liverpool and Douglas.

Spacious lounges were a feature of both twins which were furnished to a high standard.

They were virtually identical apart from slight decorative differences, the noticeable external difference being Tynwald had her upper strake painted white, whereas on Fenella it was black.