The Cornish Stannary Parliament (officially The Convocation of the Tinners of Cornwall) was the representative body of the Cornish

stannaries A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from the ore cassiterite Mining i ...

, which were chartered in 1201 by King John. In spite of the name, the Parliament was not a Cornish national assembly, instead representing the interests of the tin industry; however, due to the significant proportion of Cornwall's population involved in the tin trade, it wielded considerable power.

History

Background

The

are said to have first been acknowledged by the Crown in 1198, but formal recognition came with a 1201 charter from King John which affirmed the ancient rights ''tinners'' (those involved in mining tin) enjoyed. The charter exempted tinners from common taxes (though the stannaries had their own tax system) and made the

Lord Warden of the Stannaries The Lord Warden of the Stannaries (from la, stannum for Tin, Sn) used to exercise judicial and military functions in Cornwall, England, and is still the official who, upon the commission of the monarch or Duke of Cornwall for the time being, h ...

the sole

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

with jurisdiction over them. Tinners were also protected from being called up to provide labour to local lords of the manor while they were working in the tin industry.

Parliament

A Cornish Stannary Parliament building was built at

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 c ...

in 1305. The suspension of the Stannary Parliament and curtailing of tinners' tax exemption rights in 1496 is seen to be one of the factors in the 1497 Cornish rebellion. The Stannary Parliament met at Lostwithiel and

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

throughout its existence. Being the seat of the Parliament is credited as one of the factors that caused Truro to become a "significant administrative centre". According to

Thomas Pitt Thomas Pitt (5 July 1653 – 28 April 1726) of Blandford St Mary in Dorset, later of Stratford in Wiltshire and of Boconnoc in Cornwall, known during life commonly as ''Governor Pitt'', as ''Captain Pitt'', or posthumously, as ''"Diamond" ...

, no Stannary Parliament sat between 1710 and 1750, though efforts had been made from 1744 to try to get the Parliament recalled. The last session of the Stannary Parliament convened in Truro in 1752, being adjourned in September 1753. Because the Stannary charters have never been revoked, some argue that the powers and rights of the Stannary Parliaments are still

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

Procedure and powers

Members of the Stannary Parliament were called ''stannators''. The 24 stannators, six from each of the four Cornish stannaries (Tywarnhaile, Blackmoor, Foweymoore and Penwith), had the power to pass laws which had effect over the whole of Cornwall in the same way as an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

. The Parliament was summoned by the

Duke of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall is a title in the Peerage of England, traditionally held by the eldest son of the reigning British monarch, previously the English monarch. The duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in England and was established by a ro ...

and the

issued notices to each of the stannary towns (

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map shee ...

and Launceston) ordering elections for six stannators from each. At the opening of the Parliament the Lord Warden would make a speech, oversee the election of a

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

, and then be excluded. 24 assistants were appointed to help with the drafting of legislation, forming an informal

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

. The Stannary Parliament also held the power of veto over Westminster laws that affected the stannaries; to become law, a bill which affected mining needed the approval of every stannator, the Lord Warden, and the Duke of Cornwall. From 1752, bills from the Stannary Parliament needed the assent of sixteen members of the

Westminster Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

but as Cornwall was hugely overrepresented in Parliament, this was less of a burden than it would be today.

Notes

References