VPRS 14107 Members' Rolls

At the commencement of a new Parliament, each member is required to sign a Members' Roll declaring an oath or affirmation to serve the Queen (or King) as lawful sovereign of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the Colony/State of Victoria. In addition, members sometimes signed the roll at a later date if they were unavailable on the first sitting day or if they were elected at a by-election. On these occasions additional sheets were then attached to the roll.The Members' Roll contains the oath and the signatures of the members of the Legislative Assembly. Some of the earlier parliaments had two members' rolls, one for those who swore an oath to God, another for those who made an affirmation without reference to God. From the 16th Parliament the members' rolls were bound volumes containing pages for members to sign either the oath or affirmation.