Commons Press Gallery  November 4 1852  Today we celebrate the
150th anniversary of a part of the House of Commons without
which Simon Hoggart and his gang would have nothing to do in the
afternoons: the new press gallery.  After the Houses of
Parliament burnt down in 1834, they were rebuilt with a special
area for the press - but when the Victorian hacks took their
seats in 1850, they found that they couldn't hear the hon
members, which may or may not have been an advantage in sketch-
writing. The gallery was closed and re-opened on November 4 1852
with a glass ceiling; not to keep any female hacks in their
places but to improve the acoustics.  Originally it was illegal
to report the proceedings in parliament at all: the less the
public knew, the better. Reporters tried to beat the ban by
sneaking into the back row of the public gallery and furtively
making the odd note when the Sergeant-at-Arms was looking the
other way.  They also used to pick the brains of a man named
"Memory Smith", a sort of human tape r