The board or table at which the members of a council sit; hence, the council in session, the assembled body of councillors.
1591. Lambarde, Archeion (1635), 116. To have his Causes determined … at the Councell-board without open hearing.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., IV. iii. 99. [He] rated my Vnckle from the Councell-Boord.
1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., II. (1843), 46/1. Acquainting his council-board … with the indignities he had sustained.
a. 1693. Ld. Delamer, Wks. (1694), 40. Attendance at the Council-Board.
1841. Macaulay, W. Hastings, Ess. 1854, II. 655/2. When he landed from India … he had … looked forward to … a seat at the Council Board, an office at Whitehall.
1876. Bancroft, Hist. U. S., V. x. 437. The president … had no higher functions than those of the president of a council-board.
