h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of the main pillars, upon which the Cornish Nationalists base their claims for independence, is the Cornish Stannary Parliament with its own system of Law (Stannary Law). They claim that Stannary Law is unique to Cornwall and dates back to pre-Saxon times. When confronted with the fact that Devon also had its own Stannary Parliament, they almost always counter by quoting the Royal Charter of Pardon (1508), which only applied to Cornish Tinners. Typical of such statements are these:-

"The Cornish Stannary Royal Charter of Pardon of 1508 is unique in that it represents early human rights legislation designed to protect the interests of the Cornish national minority of Britain from English domination.
Note:- The Devon, or Anglo-Saxon, minor Stannaries along the Eastern bank of the River Tamar were not the beneficiaries of national minority rights confirmed by the Cornish Stannary Royal Charter of Pardon of 1508 or anything similar."

Being somewhat suspicious of 'the truth' as formulated by the Cornish Nationalists, I decided to go back to the definitive work on the subject:-

"STANNARY LAW - A History of the Mining Law of Cornwall and Devon"
by Professor Robert R. Pennington (1973)

This work turned out to be quite a revelation. Firstly, Pennington confirmed that the Cornwall and Devon Stannaries did indeed have their origins in pre-Saxon (Celtic) times, and that they possessed powers of legislation, which were equal in status to the legislative powers of Westminster. Interestingly, Pennington seems to suggest an origin for the appellation 'foreigner' (currently used when referring to someone from 'up the line'), as 'foreigner' was a Stannary term for someone who was not a tinner (in the broadest sense of the word). Various charters granted the Tinners of Cornwall and Devon exemption from a number of taxes and duties. In most respects, the Tinners of both counties enjoyed equal rights and privileges except for one aspect, in which the Devon Tinners had greater exemptions than their Cornish counterparts:-

"The confirmation of the Devon Charter made by Edward III in 1327 extended the exemption from imposts to all 'taxes and contributions whatsoever', apparently including the lay subsidies, which the Cornish tinners still had to pay."

The section of most interest concerns the aforementioned Charter of Pardon of 1508. The events leading up to this charter were the infringements (by the Cornish Tinners) of ordinances made in the name of the King's eldest son Arthur, Duke of Cornwall in 1496, which resulted in the apparent suspension of the Cornish Stannaries. The Charter of Pardon of 1508 resulted in the restoration of the Cornish Stannary Parliament, but at a price. It cost the petitioners £1,000, which was raised by a general levy on all Cornish Tinners. However, the power to legislate was not restored, and in its place the right of veto was granted to the Cornish tinners and their heirs and successors, whereby the Cornish Stannary Parliament could veto any National Legislation, which would adversely affect the rights of the Cornish Tinners. The powers of legislation of the Devon Stannary Parliament were, of course, unaffected by this charter. It is the word 'heirs' which the Nationalists seize upon in their contention that the Stannary Parliament is the true parliament for the whole of Cornwall, as the heirs (i.e. descendents) of the tinners would by now encompass the whole of the indigenous population of Cornwall. This is, of course, a gross distortion of the intended meaning of 'heirs', which referred to inheritors of existing tin works who continued the commercial operation of such works. How many of the current indigenous Cornish population are engaged in such activities?

In fact the Cornish Stannary Parliament had recognised that the Charter of Pardon had resulted in a diminution of its powers. This was evident from the transactions of the Cornish Stannary Parliament of 18th January 1588, in which there was a plea for the reinstatement of the right of legislation, as enjoyed by the Devon Stannary Parliament. Nothing was ever done to give effect to their wish, so in the following century, they unilaterally started to legislate again without obtaining statutory authority to do so. One thing is certain about the Charter of Pardon of 1508; it was never ratified by any Act of Parliament (as apparently was the case for all previous Stannary Charters), so its status in law remains in some doubt.

Therefore the following conclusions can be drawn:-

(1) The Charter of Pardon of 1508 most certainly does not represent "early human rights legislation designed to protect the interests of the Cornish national minority of Britain from English domination".
(2) The Charter of Pardon of 1508 did not confer additional powers on the Cornish Stannary Parliament, relative to its Devon counterpart (in fact the exact opposite would appear to be the case).
(3) The Charter of Pardon of 1508 did not imply that the Cornish Stannary Parliament was the true (and only) parliament for all of the indigenous people of Cornwall.
(4) The Charter of Pardon of 1508 may not even have had any validity in law, as it was never ratified by an Act of Parliament.
(5) Statements (purported to be fact) made by the Cornish Nationalists should always be treated as suspicious until proven otherwise.



Plymouth Exile

You're gone now and I doubt if you will see this. I have to set the record straight about your poorly constructed declarations. Firstly Henry VII only called parliament 7 times in 24 years. This was because he wished all power to remain with him. The only reason he ever called parliament was to rubber stamp new taxes and to reinforce his control over the judiciary. Not once in his reign did he ever visit the House of Commons. Henry ruled by decree and proclamation not via parliament.

Secondly in the late 1970's and early 1980's committee's were set up to unravel this conundrum. They found that Aethalstan's decree of the the western most border being the east bank of the Tamar was indeed still in effect. They also determined that the Charter of Pardon was still law.

The problem arises here. If they ruled that Cornwall was a separate entity then they'd have to refund all the taxes the English had levied without consent. If they ruled that Cornwall was and always had been a part of England then they'd have to refund all the import duties they'd charged on Cornish goods entering England. It would cost them billions either way. The English had painted themselves into a corner. The upshot was that the committee's only action was to produce a parliamentary instrument that anything that concerns the of the Duchy of Cornwall could not be brought up in Westminster.

The blame for this law has ever since been laid at the feet of Prince Charles as Duke of Cornwall. Further proving the moral cowardice of those involved. I can understand you knowing nothing of that but not that there are currently hundreds of laws, that do not rely on acts of Parliament or written statutes, in force the length and breadth of the land. It's one of the reasons the UK doesn't really have a written constitution. It would take decades to sort out.

Hi Flangepocket,

I suspect the PlymouthExile is still around and will respond in due course.

Have you got any links to the committee's findings. That might make interesting reading.

Also, the link to the Duchy of Cornwall is interesting, but it should be remembered that the Duchy owns substantial land in Devon, including most of the tin producing areas which were on and around Dartmoor.

FYI - Devon is again producing tin, at the Tungsten and Tin mine at Drakelands (Hemerdon Ball or Bal).

Flangepocket should read the definitive volume on the subject:-
"STANNARY LAW - A History of the Mining Law of Cornwall and Devon"
by Professor Robert R. Pennington (1973)

rather than rely on what the Cornish nationalists want him to believe.

Also the Eastern county boundary of Cornwall is not at the eastern shore of the Tamar. The Ordinance Survey clearly shows it to be at mid-stream of the Tamar.

Hi Flangepocket,

Reading your posting again, you mention import duties imposed on goods leaving Cornwall and crossing the Tamar.

What are you referring to? If this is the tin duties, then they are not import duties at all - the levy was imposed on production, not where the ore was sent to. Furthermore, tin duties were also imposed on tin mined in Devon (but using slightly different rates and rules).

Hi Ozzie Exile

It seems that Flangepocket doesn't have any verifiable evidence to back up his claims.