238 



III. — Stannary Boll, 3iih Edward I. (1305-6), with Introductory 

 Eemarks thereon, and on other similar Bolls. 



By Sir John Maclean, F.S.A., &c., &c., 



An Honorary Member of the Boyal Institution of Cornivall. 



ANY information, however imperfect, upon the subject of Tin, 

 the great staple of the County in early times, can scarcely 

 fail to be of interest to the members of the Royal Institution of 

 Cornwall. We therefore submit an abstract of one of a small 

 class of documents, preserved in the Public Record Office, among 

 the Miscellaneous Papers of the Exchequer, entitled "Nomina 

 Villarum," adding a brief description of the others. 



The County of Cornwall, with the Stannaries and all the 

 Minerals, were, by Charter dated 15th Henry III,* granted by 

 the King to his brother Richard, King of the Romans and Earl 

 of Cornwall, and remained vested in the Earls of Cornwall until 

 the death of Earl Edmund, in 28th Edw. I. Accordingly, we find 

 that the earliest Stannary Roll is met with in the accounts of 

 Thomas cle la Hyde, of the Stewardship of the Earldom of Corn- 

 wall for that yeart (1300-1), in which the total amount received 

 for the coinage of tin was £1120. 13s. 5d. The names of the 

 owners, the number of the pieces,:}: and the weight of each "laste," 

 together Avith the total weight belonging to each owner at each 

 weighing, and the sum of the toll, are shewn on the Roll. 



For the following year we have another similar Roll, extending 

 to the 21st Sept., 30th Edw. 1. 1| (1302), in which the sum shewn 

 to have been received for dues is £1472. 17s. 5d. 



We are unable to find any other Roll for several years, which 

 may be accounted for from the Stannaries having been granted 



» Charter Eoll, 15tli Hen. Ill, m. 4. See also Hist, of Trigg Minor, p. 29. 



t Pipe Office, Sheriffs' Accounts, No. 378. 



+ The pieces would seem to have averaged in weight from 120 lbs. to 

 130 lbs. At a later date the pieces weighed from 300 to 400 lbs. (Speculi 

 Brit, pars., p. 13, Harl. MS., 6252). 



II Pipe Office, Sheriffs' Accounts, No. 380, Eoll 4. 



