THE ECCLESIASTICAL SEALS OF CORNWALL. 59 



remained were received by the Dean or Rector of 



St. Btirian, — the clergy of the other churches being 



his curates. The Deanery is now abolished. Its 



seals will presently be described, after a few more 



particulars of the Peculiar have been given. 



Leland wrote "Ther longeth to S. Buryen's a Deane and a 



few Prebendarys, that almost be nether there," and Whitaker 



declared "The Dean like Aaron's rod has swallowed up the 



rest." 



Walter de Grray was Dean in 1213, and the last who held the 

 office was the Hon: Fitzroy Henry Richard Stanhope, M.A., 

 who was Dean from 1817 to 1864. The Deans held courts 

 similar to those of an Archdeacon, and were also styled 

 "Venerable." Their controlling power extended to certain 

 ecclesiastical and moral offences, excommunication, pennance, 

 and absolution. They granted Probate. Registration was also 

 attended to. Some of the Prelates of Exeter held the Deanery, 

 amongst others the famous Bishop Trelawuy. His seals and 

 signatures occur in the documents at Bodmin (see plate of 

 facsimiles accompanying this paper). 



Dr. Oliver in 1846 (Mon : p. 6) gave much interesting infor- 

 mation concerning Burian and its Deans, and in 1854 (in his 

 additional supplement) he somewhat amended his list. In 

 mediaeval times controversies arose between the Crown, the 

 Duchy, the Bishops, and the Deans, respecting rights relating to 

 the Peculiar. Some letters on the subject which passed between 

 the Black Prince and the Bishop of Exeter, are of interest. 

 They are written in old French. See Oliver (Mon: p. 10). 

 Other particulars concerning Burian, including Bishop Tanner's 

 list of the early Deans, have been given by Dr. Borlase (Anti- 

 quities of Cornwall, p. 349), Lach-Szyrma (History of Penzance, 

 &c., p. 72), and in the Truro Diocesan Kalendar (issue for 1882, 

 Records at Bodmin,* pp. 69, 73). It is to be observed that just 

 as EndeUion Church is the last in Cornwall to retain its old Pre- 

 bends, so Burian Church was the last in which there remained 

 a Deanery. 



* After I had contributed to the Kalendar the above-mentioned account of 

 Records, I added a list of the last fourteen Deans of Burian, with notices of some 

 of them, and an examination of their dates, also the seals in a second edition 

 printed as a pamphlet for private use. 



