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issue 1. January 1975
INTODUCTION . LEGAL HISTORY . PRIVILEGES . WESTMINSTER . 1305 CHARTER . THE TRUTH .
PRAYER FOR THE GOVERNMENT
We pray Thee, 0 Almighty and Eternal God, who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy; that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue, with unchanging faith, in the confession of Thy name.
We pray Thee, 0 God of might, wisdom, and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist, with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the Leaders of the Cornish Nation, and their administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people, over whom they preside, by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws injustice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of the Stannary Parliament, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government; so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge, and may perpetuate to us the blessings of equal liberty.
We pray for his Excellency the Lord Protector of the Stannaries of Cornwall, for the members Stannators of this Assembly, for all Judges, Magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare; that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.
We recommend likewise to Thy unbounded mercy all our brethren and fellow citizens, throughout the Cornish Lands, that they may be blessed in the knowledge, and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law: that they may be preserved in union and in that peace which the world cannot give; and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.
Amen.
The purpose of this journal is to inform the Cornish Public of the Law, particularly the Law as it affects Cornwall.
The re-appearance of the Cornish Stannary Parliament is not a huge joke or something 'dreamed up" by a group of cranks or hot heads, It is the Right of Cornwall and without it Cornwall is not legally governed.For, the Enactments of the Parliament at Westminster has no validity in Cornwall unless, they receive the consent and ratification of the Cornish Stannary Parliament-THIS IS THE LAW
How or why these laws of Cornwall have been swept under the carpet for the last two hundred and twenty years is not easily explained, let it be sufficient to say, at this juncture, that successive Parliaments at Westminster, particularly since the advent of the Georgian Monarchs, have been quite adept at disposing of those persons and institutions that would be likely to impede their progress. No excuse can be put forward of ignorance to the existance of Stannary Law. As recently as 1973 a book called "Stannary Law" was written by Professor Robert R. Pennington LL.D.
The office of Lord Warden of the Stannaries has always been maintained through the offices of the Duchy of Cornwall. Further the Stannary Court has, for many years, been retained, alongside the County Court at Truro.
The Government of Westminster, by various errors of judgement and party politics has fallen on bad times and continued association with the E.E.C. does not help it. Stannary Parliament does not pretend to be able to produce a magic wand to immediately take Cornwall out of this "Slough of Despond" but it can work and operate to produce the conditions whereby we shall be the authors of our own destiny and not led like sheep no the slaughter by faceless civil servants in London and Brussels.
By some miracle of fate we may even be the spark whereby Britain can be persuaded to re-kindle its spirit and re-fire its pride, if not as a world power, as a nation respected.
The Editor
The beginnings of the Stannary Institutions are shrouded in the mists of time, but the principle of an Assembly of Tinners is very much in line with the original democratic ideals of the Celts.
St. Pauls' Epistle to the Galatians was, in fact, to the Celtic Commonwealth of Galatia, which operated a Parliamentary system in the first century A.D.
The first surviving reference to the Cornish system, is in the Black Book of the Exchequer, issued in the ninth year of Richard I, AD. 1198, the Carta Stannaniarum Domini Regis, followed in 1201 by a Charter of King John, concerted with usage of water resources by the mining interests.
This latter was recently quoted to a Select Committee of Westminster, by David Mudd, M. P. for Falmouth/Camborne, and, although quite valid, it was still ignored.
One hundred and four years later, in 1305,0 new Charter was issued by King Edward I, creating the Titters into a Corporation, and giving freedom to them from toll and tallage, and was the origin of the Great Seal of Blackmore, the principal Stannary.
This Seal, of the Comunitatis Stangnatorum Cornubie, was kept at Luxulian, until allegedly destroyed in the Great Civil War.
A replica replacement has been produced, this year, 1974.
The government of the Stannaries continued thus until 1496, when Prince Arthur, brother of Henry VII, introduced certain ordinances to be observed in the Stannaries of Devon, and Cornwall. Whilst Devon complied, their Celtic colleagues across the Tamar refused, this action resulting, in 1508, of the purchase by Blackmore Stannary, on behalf of all the people of Cornwall, the famed Charter of Pardon.
At this juncture, the entry in the M. S. Book of the Duchy of Cornwall, regarding the Rights of the Stannaries, should be mentioned. Any Custom, or Liberty, practised without lawful interruption, over a very considerable period of time, becomes what is known as a prescriptive right, that is, a right from time immemorial.
On this, the following entry :-
"The Stannaries hath many privileges belonging unto it, some by prescription, and some by charter. By prescription it hath, inter alia.
Firstly, Power in Chancerie to judge in Equity
Secondly, Power of the Star Chamber to judge and to punish Ryotts, Perjurers, etc.
Thirdly, Power to hold a parliament and to make laws
Fourthly, to muster Tinners,"
Etc. etc.
What the Charter of Pardon actually did, was to regulanise the make-up of the Stannary Parliament, the method of election, and also, to grant an extremely powerful right of veto over Westminster
This latter will be considered separately; later, but an explanation of the various Stannary Officers is necessary at this stage.
The Lord Warden of the Stannaries. The principal officer, appointed by the Duke of Cornwall as his representative, the powers of the Warden being, ex officio (a) to convene the Stannary Parliament as the Convocation of Cornwall, (b) as judge of appeal in the Stannary Courts system, and, (c) to muster the Tinners.
The first known Warden was William do Wrotham, appointed 1197.
His deputy is the Vice-Warden, whose Court is the principal Stannary Law Court, and below these, the stewards, and Bailiffs.
The present, 1974, Lord Warden, is the 12th Earl Waldegrave, K.G.
Under the new Charter, upon presentation of petition by a Tin-miner to the Lord Warden, the Warden was to issue Writs to the Mayors of the four Stannary Towns, Launceston, for Foweymore, Lostwithiel for Blackmore, Truro, for Tywarnhayle, and Helston, for Penwith/Kerrier.
The Mayors, and Corporations, were then required to elect six Stannators each, from the lists of nominees prepared.
The Lord Warden was then to obtain the Commission of Instructions, equivalent to the Queens' Speech, from the Duke of Cornwall, to be read to the assembled Stannators at the inaugural meetings, and then withdraw , taking no further part in the proceedings. The Warden is also required to sign the various Enactments of the Convocation, in effect, to give the Royal Assent.
This method worked quite well, until the mid-eighteenth century.
By 1588, however, the Stannators were no longer satisfied by the narrowness of election powers, and desired that the franchise be enlarged, to take in more voters, within the mining industry.
A Bill was prepared, to improve this, which went through Westminster twice, and received the recommendation of the Lords, that the number of Stannators be increased to eight per Stannary.
This Bill, however, never became Law, and later, another half-successful attempt was made, with the same result.
Meanwhile, the practice had been established for the Stannators to appoint their own Assistant Stannators, to keep them informed of the requirements of the "lower social orders", as the Stannators themselves were of the landed gentry class, and knew little of the trials and tribulations of the working populace.
Although the Assistants did not have any, voting powers in Convocation, by the early 1700's they had become almost comparable to the Stannators that had appointed them, and Convocation itself was a legislative Assembly in its' own right, in effect a provincial Cornish Parliament on a par with the Manx Government, in the Channel Islands.
That the Convocation exercised self-government is obvious, but the irregularity of its' meetings, and the rise of the Political Parties in England militated against it.
THE STATUS OF WESTMINSTER, AND THE CHARTER OF PARDON
The situation here is a complex one, involving not only the aspirations of national' politics, but also super-politics as it has been, and is currently being, practised.
When the Charter of Pardon was framed, the interferance of Westminster in Cornish affairs was quite minimal, totally different from the present situation.
This, very largely, was the reason that the power of veto was never used in Cornwall.
Having said this, it should be realised, that Westminster's powers in Cornwall, as in many other privileged places, were extremely limited, almost non-existent, in point of fact.
When Henry IV became a king, in l399, he insisted that his title, lands, jurisdictions, etc, as Duke of Lancaster, must be preserved, and that these should descend from him, as they had descended to him, without in any wise being altered or changed.
One of those places under the jurisdiction of the Royal Kingdom and Duchy of Lancaster, is the sister Duchy of Cornwall, and where Henry was Duke of Lancaster, his Writ, as King, would not run, thus divorcing his Crown interests from his Duchy interests, for where his Writ did not run, there his Ministers might not trespass.
One of the specific requirements is that "the barons of the Exchequer" may not interfere within the Duchy. That they clearly do, is obvious
It is also true, that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is a party political appointment, by a Crown Minister, of one of his own Party, quite illegally, under the Great Charter of Lancaster!
The progressive assumption of non-existent powers was already well advanced, by the time the last Convocations of the 1700's met, in 1752-3, and a number of coups d'etat had already been accomplished.
The Westminster equivalent to the Lord Warden is the Hereditary Lord High Steward of England and Lancaster, Vice-Roy, and supreme Law Officer of the Realm.
His Court of Justice is empowered to over-ride Acts of Parliament in the interests of Justice his presence is vital to the conven ion of Parliament, and at Coronations.
His signature is required, to legalise every Act of Westminster, without the same, these Acts are not lawful.
By 1753, the Lord High Steward had long been "removed".
Similarly, to prevent control of the Armed Forces by political interests, responsibility fur them lay with the Constable of England. He too has been illegally removed and control now lies with the Political parties with their own Minister of Defence."
1721 saw the self-appointment of the "Prime Minister", an office not recognised by the Legislature until 1937
The salary, and title of "First Lord of the Treasury", was flInched from the kings' hereditary Lord High Treasurer, also "removed".
The rise of Empire, the Industrial Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars, resulted in more and more assumption of non-existent powers by Westminster Political parties
. From the 1750's until the 1960's Stannary , or Convocation, was virtually forgotten, although the Courts of Stannary most certainly were not.
In the 1860's realization of the tax freedoms granted by the 1305 Charter, caused the mining Adventurer's to attempt to re-call Convocation, but as a result of deliberately misleading information, regarding the Joint Stock Companies, and Limited Companies Acts, it was believed that these liberties no longer existed, and the attempt faded out.
The 1870's saw the onset of collapse in the vital mining industry, with many Cornish families brought to virtual destitution, and the beginning of the exodus of young and fit Cornishmen, to more rewarding areas in the mining world, Butte, Montana, Tombstone, Arizona, South Africa and Australia, from whence money came home, to help the desperate straits of their families.
The 1880's saw one of the final nails being driven into the coffin of Carnish rights and privileges, the County Councils Act, not passed by the Stannary Parliament, quite illegal; but no one cared, who mattered.
As early as 836 AD. the degradation of Cornwall had been insidiously proceeding. In that year, the Cornish were expelled from their capital, Kernsk Exeter) by Aethelstan, defeated, with their allies, the Danes, at Hingston Down, and the last Cornish king, Howel died.
The river Tamar was then declared to be the boundary between the Cornish and the West Saxon forever.
Cultural and religious control was taken by the Anglo-Saxon, and the new "king" was titled "Earl", although still a Cornishman.
With the Normans' coming, the Earldom had passed to a Saxon, so the Normans took it over.
Later a small degree of restoration took place with the "creation" of a Royal Duchy, but already the appellation of "County" was creeping in.
The Prayer Book Rising of 1548 was the last effort of the Cornish language against the enormous pressure 0f English, and by the 18B0's the Cornish had become "just another English County".
That is until 1874, for in February of this year, a petition to the Lord Warden arrived in the Duchy of Cornwall Office, in London, in accordance with time honoured custom.
This petition had been circulated to all the Cornish mines, and many hundreds of signatures were obtained, although one only would have sufficed. At the same time, the Clerks of the Stannary Towns were appraised 0f impending elections, again in accordance with their special prerogatives.
The result of this, was a query by the Duchy as to why they should recommend the calling of Convocation, followed by their passing, again, of deliberately misleading information to the Stannary Towns, and eventually, by refusal to convene.
On April 18th the ancient Miners', or Tin Court of Haldhu was re-assembled, attended by representatives of the various miners, as was customary, The whole position was then explained to the assembled miners, who then elected the Convenor, the Clerk, and Chairman of their Court
The Court was then presented with the names addresses and occupations of the proposed nominees, which was originally intended for perusal by the Stannary Towns, before they had withdrawn, on receipt of the Duchy's contrived "information", mentioned above.
The Court then decided, that as the original Parliament, the Assembly of Titters, was normally nominated by the miners themselves, that approval of election at the nominees would be voted upon, by the representatives present at the court.
The result of this vote, was unanimous, that the nominees were fully acceptable, to represent the tiners, in Convocation.
The Duchy was immediately informed, of the results of the miners' election, but remained alto unmovable from their previous refusal to convene.
On the 20th May, 1974, the Clark of the Court of Haldhu, having advised the various successful nominees of their election, called the Parliament, under protection of the Great Seal of Blackmore, and assembly took place at Lostwithiel, Stannary Town of Blackmore.
After lengthy discussion, it was unanimously agreed, that one more effort should be made to secure the attendance of the Lord Warden, in accordance with his bounden duty.
Further negotiations with the Duchy however, proved fruitless, and at the next session 24th June, the Speaker, and Lord Protector of the Stannaries was elected to act as locum tenens until the Warden attended upon his duties.
On 14th September, it was decided to present a Petition of Rght to the Queen claiming redress of grievance, in that the Duchy refused to allow election by the Stannary Town Councils, and refused to recommend the Warden to attend upon his duties, also asking for the Cornish National Flag, the Cross of St. Piran, to be recognised by Her Majesty.
The provisions of Magna Carta require, that forty days was allowable, before redress of such grievances became mandatory, and on the thirty-eighth day, a reminder was despatched to Buckingham Palace.
A communication was then received from the Home Office, requiring details of the method of election employed, to enable a decision to be reached.
On 4th October,a final Note was despatched to Buckingham Palace, stating that if redress was not received forthwith, the provisions of Magna Carta was to be invoked, by seizure of Crown property, in accordance with these provisions, on 16th December. On the 12th December, a reply was received from the Home Office, to the effect that only election by the Stannary Towns, as required by the Charter of Pardon of 1508, would be acceptable to the Home Office, thus giving confirmation of the validity of the Charter as had been claimed by the Parliament on 20th May.
In consequence of this confirmation, it has been unanimously decided, by the Statuary Parliament, that the names of the Stannators, elected by the miners to serve in the Stannary Parliament, will again be presented to the Stannary Mayors and Councils, for ratification, in accordance with the stated requirements of the Home Secretary.
This ratification will then raise the status of the Stannary Parliament, to that of full Convocation. It is, however, the considered opinion of the Stannators, that should a repetition of the previous experience again recur, the consequences to Law and order within Cornwall could well be catastrophic, and blame for this situation must rest squarely upon the shoulders of those, whose duty it is to ratify the elections of those persons who have already been selected by the miners of Cornwall, to serve their interests in full Convocation, and who presently serve, in the Statnary Parliament.
Reference will later be made to a "Second House", of Stannary Parliament.
This refers to the practice of appointing Assistant Stannators by preceding Convocations, and the dire necessity of fully democratic elections, demanded by the twentieth century.
It is intended that the Second House, of 24 members, shall be elected by the people enlarge, to serve the people at large, and to be responsible for the general administration of Cornwalls' affairs, thus providing the parallel to Westminster, of Lords and Commons, the Commons, or Second House, carrying the bulk of responsibility to the people.
Copy of letter sent to the Mayors and Corporations of the four Stannary
The Mayor & Corporation,
Greetings, CORNWALL. Re:- Convocation of Cornwall or Stannary Parliament.
Mr. Mayor Sir,
Following upon correspondence between the Stannary Parliament and the Home Office, a letter dated 11th December, 1974, has been received from the Home Secretary stating as follows:-
The method of election prescribed by the Charter of Pardon, 1508, was selection by the Mayor & Council of each of the Boroughs of Truro, Lostwithiel, Launceston, and Helston-in-Kerrier"
The present Stannary Parliament was approved and elected by the representatives of the Mining Industry, following the failure to obtain the necessary approval mentioned in the Home Office letter quoted above. As the Home Office requires this to be carried out correctly, and we quote further :
"It appears from your letter of 11th November, 1974, that you and your colleagues could not have been chosen in this way, and the Home Secretary regrets that it is not possible therefore, to regard you as validly constituting the Stannary Parliament;" we append herewith the names of the Stannators elected by the Miners, as mentioned above, for your, Stannary District, for the ratification, as required above by the Home Secretary, as Commanded by Her Majesty.
We believe it is our duty to inform you that in veiw of the fact that the Home Office are aware of the validity of the Charter of Pardon, this creates a very serious political situation, inasmuch that you are no doubt aware, said Charter provides that all Acts, Statutes and Provisions of the Westminster Parliament must be Assented to by the Stannary Parliament (Convocation) before they can become Law in Cornwall. Consequently, as Stannary Parliament (Convocation) has not sat since 1752/3, none of the enactments of Westminster are valid in Cornwall from that date.
For obvious reasons this should not be made public knowledge at this time; and therefore, because of these implications, we earnestly urge you to pay prompt attention to the ratification requested, in order that a position of political anarchy be forestalled.
The Stannators names being :-
(As per Stannary Districts)Yours faithfully,
Clerk,
Stannary Parliament of Cornwall
. 19th Day of December,1974
ADDRESS TO STANNARY PARLIAMENT BY THE SPEAKER & LORD PROTECTOR OF THE STANNARIES
MEMBERS OF STANNARY,
16th September , 1974
The first report which has to be made to you all, refers to the protracted negotiations with the Duchy of Cornwall, in the matter of the Lord Warden.
In the interests of amicable settlement, a Professor of Law generously agreed to speak with the Attorney-General on Our behalf, and as a result, the latter has agreed, that whilst the Duchy are willing to accept this Parliament, they cannot willingly confer the right for Us to impede the Legislation of Westminster. They have agreed, that the volume of case law is such, that at application fore writ of Mandamus must almost inevitably succeed, but they will not voluntarily involve Prince Charles in the political arena, only a Court Order will be acceptable to them.
As a result of this, further investigations have been found necessary, and an abhorrent state of affairs have been disclosed as a consequence. They amount to an indictment of the whole political scene in these islands; illegality, fraud, and the existence of a totalitarian democracy, a masquerade of massive proportions, against which, the matter of the Lord Warden pales into insignificant irrelevancy.
There can now be shown a deliberate and calculated suppression of constitutional rights and the Common Law, contrary to the Act of Settlement of 1700, and in defiance of the Bill of Rights of 1694. Further, that the basis of that Common Law, Magna Carta, 39 hint ratified as that basis, has been prostituted, the Great Charter of Lancaster made into a mockery for political gain, and the Queens Writ deliberately foisted onto those over whom it does not run, giving rise to unlawful elections, and the committing of criminally indictable offences, known as exploiting of Acts of Parliament.
There are those who believe, that Parliament is supreme, and I shall repeat the gist of the famous speech by the Earl of Chatham, before the House of Lords in 1770, on this very subject: He said,
"I am a plain man, and I have been brought up in a religious reverence for the original simplicity of the Laws of England. By what sophistry they have been perverted, by what artifices have they been involved in obscurity is not for me to explain.
We have been assured by our noble Lord, that he knows not in what code the Law of Parliament may be found. That the House of Commons, when they act as judges, have no law to direct them but their own wisdom, that their decision is the law, and if they determine wrong, the Subject has no Appeal but to Heaven.
What then, My Lords, are all the generous efforts of our ancestors, are all these glorious contentions, by which they meant to secure to themselves and transmit to their posterity, a known law, a certain Rule of Living, reduced to this conclusion: that instead of the arbitrary Power of a King, we must submit to the arbitrary Power of the House of Commons. If this be true, what benefit dose derive from the exchange. Tyranny my Lords, is detestable in every shape, but none so formidable as when it is assumed and exercised by a NUMBER of tyrants.
But this is not the fact, this is not the Constitution, we have a Law of Parliament, we have a Code in which any Honest man may find it: We have Magna Carta. We have the Statute Book and the Bill of Rights."
To those words I will add, Gentlemen, we have the Great Charter of Lancaster, which of itself totally replaces the Charter of Pardon in it's requirements. For those under the Red Rose of Lancaster, the Queen's Writ does not apply, thy' Her Majesty is the Duke of Lancaster. And where Her Writ does not run, there her Ministers may not trespass.
By whose warrant then, did Edward Heath claim to represent Britain, when he signed the Treaty of Accession? He did not, nor could not, represent the 29 Counties of the Royal Duchy of Lancaster. For the Parliaments have no jurisdiction over the Royal Kingdom, Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster, nor can they have in various other privileged places. And who did Heath pretend to represent in this affair? It was certainly a pretence as far as Cornwall is concerned, for She is superior to the Parliaments, as shown in Habeas Corpus. It was also a pretence as far as Southampton and Wiltshire and Somerset and Dorset and Devon were concerned. And Berkshire, Oxford, Hereford, Worcestershire, Lincoln, Huntingdon, Norfolk, Suffolk, Chester and Stafford were concerned.
Yet not only are the Parliaments practicing this subterfuge, for they have the effrontery to use the Party Whip, to suborn the elected representatives of the constituencies, to force support for the conspiracies of the Party machines. Even this is not enough; for no secure their unlawful elections, they deliberately offer bribes and inducements to the electorate, in defiance of the requirements of the Representation of the Peoples Act of 1949.
To what extent have they admitted the truth of these charges?
When John Davies was purporting to be Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, he admitted to John Pardoe that there was no link, between the Duchy of Lancaster and the E.E.C., and that the Local Government Boundary Revisions Act of 1972 did not apply to the County Palatine. Neither does it here!
Crown Courts are illegal here also, an affront to the Arms and Dignity of the Duke of Lancaster, and to all Lancastrians. To pretend that they are legal, as with all those various Acts of Parliament that purport to govern us, is a criminally indictable offence. That does not touch upon that requirement of Magna Carla, which provides that an illegal Act shall be void, and "holden for naught".
This provides the answer to the apparent latency of Henry the VII's in giving away the powers of the Parliament, and himself, in the Charter of Pardon of 1508. Because he knew that the Charter of Lancaster expressly forbad interference with us any way! The Charter of Pardon merely gave a form of resume of the rights and liberties we already possessed under Lancaster. For how can an illegal Act become legal, if we do not veto it, in accordance with the Charter of Pardon? It is unlawful before we even consider it.
The political coup d'etat that have been perpetrated are so many and varied, that it seems almost invidious to single them out. The self-appointed office of Prime Minister, and the shutting out of the King's Heriditary Lord High Treasurer, to enable the filching of his salary no pay for this self appointment.
The removal of the Hereditary Lord High Steward of England and the Duchy of Lancaster, Principal Officer of State, and Viceroy, whose presence is essential at the Coronations, and for whom, Bordeaux has paid a 10% Levy on their wine trade, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, confirmed by the Mayor of Bordeaux as late as 1966.
The trickery is almost endless.
I therefore declare, before this Parliament and People, that all those Rights. Liberties, Privileges and Customs, are forthwith restored to their true and lawful position and integrity, in accordance with the Sovereign Charters of the Constitutional Monarchy, and that this Parliament cannot, and will not, answer outside Our Borders, (as defined in Article V of June, 1974) save before Her Grace the Duke of Lancaster, Queen Elizabeth the Second Our Sovereign Liege.