A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



with France and Scotland, but the hired vessels were mainly victuallers and storeships. In the North 

 Sea, however, Sir John Clere's squadron was not considered strong enough to ensure the safety of the 

 Iceland fleet, and a reinforcement of nineteen armed merchantmen, which included two from Saltash 

 and Fowey, was ordered to join him. 1 In 1558 Cornwall set out four ships, two from Looe and two 

 from Fowey, as privateers under licence from the Lord Admiral. Twenty-two ships from Devon 

 ports obtained licences. 



Through several centuries the right of wreck was coveted by manorial lords and corporations, 

 both for profit and incidentally as evidence of exemption from the inquisition of the High Admiral. 

 Legally, if man, dog, or cat escaped alive from a ship it was no wreck ; but if the cargo once came 

 into the hands of the dwellers on the coast there was small chance of recovery. Every corporation 

 used what influence it possessed to obtain local jurisdiction in Admiralty matters, not only as a 

 question of dignity and profit, but even more in order to escape the arbitrary and expensive proceed- 

 ings of the admiral's deputies, who brought much odium on their master. In Cornwall few places 

 obtained such franchises, perhaps because there was not only the opposition of the Lord Admiral to 

 overcome, but also the more potent influence of the earls and dukes of Cornwall, so near the throne. 

 From complaints of the Black Prince, in 1342 and I343, 2 we find that the king had recently 

 granted him rights of wreck in the county, and that certain persons had helped themselves, regardless 

 of his privileges, to the amount of ,1,000, or according to another statement ^3,ooo. 3 Again, in 

 1345 wrecked goods to the value of 2,000 marks, the rightful perquisite of the prince, were stolen 

 by the people on the spot. Where a corporation possessed Admiralty rights it was to the interest of 

 the townsmen to prevent plunder in the surrounding district, but it is doubtful if any Cornish town 

 ever possessed full maritime jurisdiction to the extent enjoyed by some in other counties, and this 

 may be one reason why Cornish wrecking was so flagrant. There are indications that perhaps 

 Padstow and Saltash once held or claimed such jurisdiction 4 and a maritime court, but possibly 

 only that held by the officers of the admiral of the south and west fleet, sat at Lostwithiel, which 

 town exercised certain rights to the mouth of the Fowey River. The lapse of years did not 

 improve Cornish morals in either wrecking or piracy, and the former seems to have been 

 effected with a neatness and alertness that speaks of unremitting practice. In 1526 a Portuguese 

 ship was wrecked at Gunwalloe, and much cargo was saved. It was seized by the servants 

 of John Millinton, captain of Mount St. Michael, Thomas St. Aubyn, and William Godolphin, 

 and when the owner appealed to the justices he was told that it was ' the custom of the 

 country,' and that no redress was possible. 5 A commission of inquiry issued, followed by Star 

 Chamber proceedings ; and then the defence, for which any number of witnesses could always be 

 obtained, was the usual one that the owner had sold the property on the seashore. 6 We shall see 

 that 'the custom of the country' remained immutable through the centuries. In 1566 a Flemish 

 ship was wrecked in Mount's Bay, and the cargo disappeared, ' none of the spoilers of the said goods 

 will bring the same or any part thereof to light.' 7 In 1589 a richly-laden ship, a prize taken by 

 the earl of Cumberland, was also lost in Mount's Bay, and most of the cargo robbed by Thomas 

 Penres, a ' gentleman of great and good authority.' Other Star Chamber suits of the reign of 

 Henry VIII reveal the lawless condition of the coast still more forcibly. John Amadas and Thomas 

 Moon held an inquiry in Looe church concerning the robbery of Barnard Bullen, of St. Malo, to 

 which the offenders confessed : 'then came there William Kendall with 100 followers, armed with 

 swords, saying they would answer for the robbery, abused the commissioners, and put them forth in 

 peril of their lives, so that they were fain to flee secretly out of the church and town.' 8 



The question of piracy and wrecking became more prominent during this reign, not because the 

 offences were more prevalent there were probably fewer cases than during preceding centuries but 

 because suppression was taken in hand more seriously. Henry loved law and order, although, to the 

 discomfort of many of his subjects, he insisted on being the final arbiter as to what constituted both. 

 It had been found that the existing system of trial for piracy was nearly useless, the offender having 

 to confess before he could be sentenced, or his guilt having to be proved by disinterested witnesses, 

 who, naturally, could seldom be present at sea. By two statutes, 27 Hen. VIII, c. 4, and 28 Hen. VIII, 

 c. 15, such crimes were in future to be tried according to the forms of the common, and not as 

 hitherto the civil, law. Probably for the better administration of these statutes, and for other reasons 

 namely, the execution of a treaty with France in 1525 concerning maritime depredations, the strict 

 protection of the king's and Lord Admiral's rights in wrecks and other matters, the registration of 

 ships and men available and the levy of seamen, the inspection and certification of ships going to 



1 S.P. Dom. Mary, xi, 38. The crown gave up its share in prizes for the benefit of the crews. 

 Pat. 16 Edw. Ill, pt. iii, m. \\d. 3 Ibid. 17 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 



4 Marsden, Select Pleas in the Court of Admiralty, I, xlix 5 II, xxi. 



5 L. and P. Hen. V11I. iv, pt. ii, 281 5. 



i Star Chamb. Proc. J&, fr. ' Acts of P. C. 3 1 Dec. 1 566. 



Star. Chamb. Proc. y^. A similar case happened at Calstock. 



486 



