Sir Peter Nevile Wake Jennings, (born 19 August 1934) is a retired British public servant, who served as

Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons The Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons is a parliamentary official responsible for order in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The office dates to 1415 and traditionally included responsibility for security. The role is now mainly ...

from 1995 to 1999. Before joining the staff of

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1976, he was an officer in the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

Career

Jennings was commissioned into the

as a second lieutenant on 1 November 1952. He was made an

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 20 April 1954, and promoted to lieutenant on 1 May 1956 (with seniority in that rank from 1 February 1956). He was made a

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

lieutenant colonel on 29 June 1974, and relinquished the rank on 1 August 1976. He retired from the Royal Marines on 29 November 1976 with the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. In 1976, Jennings joined the staff of the

as a deputy assistant. From 1995 to 1999, he served as the

Serjeant-at-Arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-ar ...

, the parliamentary official responsible for order in the House of Commons. In retirement, Jennings was Chairman of the

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

Almshouse Charity (2004–2010), the Bowles Outdoor Centre (2004–2010), and the

English-Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organisation headquartered in London, England. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages ...

(2014–2015).

Honours

In the

1999 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1999 for various Commonwealth realms were announced on 30 December 1998, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1999. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various orders, d ...

, Jennings was appointed

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...

(CVO) in recognition of his service as Serjeant-at-Arms. In the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various or ...

, he was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

following his retirement as Serjeant-at-Arms, and therefore granted the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Peter 1934 births Living people Serjeants at arms of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Royal Marines Commando officers Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Bachelor 20th-century Royal Marines personnel