During the first four centuries of Parliament the Speaker received no regular salary adequate to his needs. In 1673, Sir Edward Seymour was paid £5 a day, and relied for the remainder of his income upon the fees on private bills which accompanied the office. Other Speakers in the past were remunerated by the gift of Government appointments or sinecures conferred upon them by the Crown. This casual system was put a stop to in 1790, when a fixed salary was first paid by the House to its chief officer. For the next fifty years the Speaker could also claim valuable perquisites in the shape of equipment money, amounting to £1000, at the commencement of each new Parliament, a service of plate (valued at about the same sum), and a sessional allowance of £100 for stationery. He was also permitted to carry the Chair away with him at the end of every Parliament, and Speaker Onslow is said to have thus acquired five of these bulky pieces of furniture, the disposal of which in his private residence must have afforded him a perplexing problem.[200] [200] None of these chairs is to be found at Clandon, nor has the Onslow family any record of their existence, so perhaps the story of this particular perquisite is nothing but a legend and a myth. The Speaker also received a gift of wine and a Christmas present of broadcloth from the Clothworkers' Company; and, as a buck and doe were sent to him annually from the Royal Park at Windsor, had probably more opportunities of burying venison than any of his contemporaries. The £1000 equipment money is still provided, and a service of plate, while an adequate supply of stationery is substituted for the allowance. As "First Commoner" the Speaker takes precedence of all others, and among his many honorary dignities is the Trusteeship of the British Museum, to which all Speakers, since and including Arthur Onslow, have been appointed. His present salary amounts to £5000 a year, and he is also provided with an official residence in the Palace of Westminster, exempt from the payment of all rates and taxes.