INDUSTRIES 



counties the parliaments were probably an ex- 

 pansion of and an offshoot from the grand juries 

 in the stannary courts, which, as we have seen, 

 were called upon to declare the customs, and 

 which often prefixed to their presentments of 

 criminals a confirmation of existing stannary 

 law. 1 



It is stated in the older local histories that 

 until 1305 the tinners of Devon and Cornwall 

 met in one parliament, on Kingston Hill, near 

 Callington, 2 and that after the charters of that 

 year the two counties held their parliaments 

 apart. 3 All that can be stated, however, is that 

 the records of the Devon parliaments go back 

 only to 1 5 io, 4 while those for Cornwall begin 

 with I588, 5 by which latter date the convoca- 

 tions were assembled in accordance with the 

 articles of the Charter of Pardon. This docu- 

 ment was the indirect result of the cupidity of 

 Henry VII, who, in consequence of violations of 

 the stannary laws on the part of the tinners, 

 especially of the regulations initiated by Prince 

 Arthur, 6 had declared the stannary charters for- 

 feited, and restored them in 1507 only upon pay- 

 ment of a fine of 1,100. To the original 

 document he added a grant of new powers to the 

 Cornish parliament. Twenty-four ' stannators ' 

 were to be nominated, six by the mayor and 

 council of each of the towns of Lostwithiel, 

 Truro, Launceston, and Helston, representing 

 the stannaries of Blackmore, Tywarnhail, Fowey- 

 more, and Penwith and Kerrier, and the convo- 

 cation so constituted had power to allow or 

 disallow any statute or proclamation made by the 

 king, or by the Prince of Wales, which should be 

 'to the prejudice of any tinner, or other person 

 having to do with black or with white tin.' 7 

 Under these auspices began the parliaments 

 whose records can still be traced. 8 



The question as to whether they represented 

 all classes of tinners requires to be answered 

 with some circumspection. Although in Devon- 

 shire the manner of election was highly demo- 

 cratic, 9 in Cornwall the case was different, due to 

 the fact that the nomination of stannators was 



1 The lead mines of Derbyshire and of Mendip do 

 not seem to have held parliaments, but the great Bar- 

 mote Courts of the former really performed the 

 functions of a parliament, together with those of a 

 court (Comfleat Mineral Laws of Derbyshire). The 

 Devon parliaments were spoken of as ' Great Courts,' 

 and the members as jurates. 



* Carew, Survey of Cornwall (ed. 1811), p. 17. 



3 Add. MS. 6682, fol. 507. 



4 Laws of the Stannary of Devon (ed. 1575). 



5 Add. MS. 6713, fol. 195, et seq. 



6 Ibid. fols. 101-104. 



7 Pat. 23 Hen. VII, pt. vii, m. 29, 30, 31. 



8 The order of procedure observed differed little 

 from that of the House of Commons. See Add. MS. 

 6713, fols. 415, 456. 



9 ' The Ancient Stannary of Ashburton,' by R. N. 

 Worth, Trans. Devon Assoc. viii, 321. 



the privilege of the mayors and councils of the 

 stannary towns. How they exercised their 

 powers for the first century and a half we do not 

 know, but in 1687, inconsequence of the failure 

 of the convocation to ratify a royal contract for 

 the preemption, we find the warden suggesting 

 to the king the possibility of so returning mem- 

 bers ' that they will consist of loyal, sober 

 persons,' 10 and ten years later complaint was 

 made that the mayors of the stannary towns who 

 returned convocators were the bitterest enemies 

 the tinners had. 11 



Even where appointments were free from bias, 

 it is doubtful if the Cornish parliaments repre- 

 sented any class but that of the large mine-owners 

 or tin dealers, inasmuch as a perusal of the lists 

 of members reveals few who were neither knights, 

 baronets, gentlemen, nor esquires." Further evi- 

 dence to the same effect is supplied by the origin 

 of the body known as ' the assistants.' As early as 

 Elizabeth's reign the stannators had petitioned 

 the queen that their numbers be doubled, and 

 that the additional members from each stannary 

 be chosen by the stannary courts as in Devon. 13 

 The request was not granted, but by 1674 we 

 find the stannators each nominating an assistant, 

 and the latter summoned by the vice-warden to 

 consult with the convocation, the idea being that 

 by this means the latter would be kept better 

 informed of the situation among tinners of the 

 lower ranks. 14 It is questionable whether this 

 was the effect. The assistants as well as their 

 principals appear to have been gentlemen, 15 and, 

 whatever their station, their sole function seems 

 to have been to say yes or no to propositions 

 submitted for their approval. They were allowed 

 no votes, they were not even present at the ses- 

 sions, but were placed in a separate apartment, 

 and called in only on rare occasions ; nor does it 

 appear that they ever ventured to dissent from 

 any bill upon which their opinion was sought. 



As to the actual power which these parlia- 

 ments could exert in the face of royal or of 

 princely opposition, the meagreness of the records 

 does not permit of a satisfactory answer. So far 

 as they go they reveal two or three instances in 

 which the royal will was thwarted. Thus in 

 the reign of Charles II we find the appointment 

 of Penzance as a coinage town nullified for 

 some time, by the neglect of the convocation of 

 tinners to extend to it the ordinary laws of the 

 coinage. 16 In 1674, again, the parliament was at 



10 Treas. Papers, ii, io. 



11 The Tinners' Grievance. 



" Add. MS. 6713, fols. 194, 223, 353, 415, 456. 

 Treas. Papers, ii, 58. See also Hist. MSS. Com. 

 Rep. ix, pt. ii, 90-94. 



13 Convoc. Cornw. 30 Eliz. c. 5. 



14 The practice is referred to as having been in use 

 previous to 1674 (Add. MS. 6713, fol. 392). 



15 See Add. MS. 6713, fol. 393 et seq., 459. 



16 T. Pearce, Laws and Customs of the Stannaries, 

 103. 



535 



