Crockern Tor, the meeting place of the Stannary Convocation of Devon
Stannary law (derived from the Latin: stannum for tin) is the body of English law that governs tin mining in Cornwall and Devon; although no longer of much practical relevance, the stannary law remains part of the law of the United Kingdom and is arguably the oldest law incorporated into the English legal system.[1]
The stannary law's complexity and comprehensive reach into the lives of tin miners necessitated the existence of the legislative Stannary Convocations of Devon and Cornwall, the judicial Courts of the Vice-Warden of the Stannaries, and the executive Lord Warden of the Stannaries. The separate and powerful government institutions available to the tin miners reflected the enormous importance of the tin industry to the English economy during the Middle Ages. Special laws for tin miners pre-date written legal codes in Britain, and ancient traditions exempted everyone connected with tin mining in Cornwall and Devon from any jurisdiction other than the stannary courts in all but the most exceptional circumstances.
Part of a series on the
History of Cornwall
History
Timeline
History of Cornwall
Cornish devolution
Medieval kingdom
Dumnonia
Dumnonii
Cornovii
Rulers (or titles)
Legendary rulers
King of Cornwall
Duke of Cornwall
Feudal Baronies
Law
Cornish Stannary Parliament
Stannary law
Modern governance
Cornwall Council
Proposed Cornish Assembly
Local history
Truro
Topics
Cornish language
Cornish literature
Music history
Mining
Geological history
Cornwall portal
v
t
e
^Pennington, Robert R. (1973). Stannary Law. David and Charles, Newton Abbot.
Stannarylaw (derived from the Latin: stannum for tin) is the body of English law that governs tin mining in Cornwall and Devon; although no longer of...
A stannary was an administrative division established under stannarylaw in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin...
The Cornish Stannary Parliament (officially The Convocation of the Tinners of Cornwall) was the representative body of the Cornish stannaries, which were...
laws (stannarylaw) and, ultimately, their own parliaments (stannary parliaments). These laws applied to anyone involved in the industry. Stannaries were...
and expand the stannarylaw in the county. Initially assembled in the Middle Ages by the Lord Warden of the Stannaries, the Stannary Convocation developed...
Cornish Stannary Parliament (Cornish: Seneth Stenegow Kernow), was a pressure group which claimed to be a revival of the historic Cornish Stannary Parliament...
The Lord Warden of the Stannaries (from Latin: stannum for Tin, Sn) used to exercise judicial and military functions in Cornwall, England, UK, and is still...
from each of the four stannaries. Each meeting probably continued for several days and dealt with matters such as setting stannarylaw, registering tinworks...
became used as a prison and court to administer the laws in the Forest of Dartmoor and the Devon stannaries. The tower was rebuilt in the middle of the 13th...
Tin mining in Britain Dartmoor tin-mining Mining in Cornwall and Devon Stannarylaw Tin mining in Bolivia Tin mining in Malaysia Tin mining in Nigeria Black...
refined tin, payable to the Duchy of Cornwall and administered in the Stannary Towns. The oldest surviving records of coinage show that it was collected...
rulers King of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall Feudal Baronies Law Cornish Stannary Parliament Stannarylaw Modern governance Cornwall Council Proposed Cornish Assembly...
powers to the Convocation of the Tinners of Cornwall (commonly known as the Stannary Parliaments) to veto English legislation in Cornwall. The Local Government...
rulers King of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall Feudal Baronies Law Cornish Stannary Parliament Stannarylaw Modern governance Cornwall Council Proposed Cornish Assembly...
treason on 2 March 1702, and his titles were thus forfeited under English law. However, from the (minority) Jacobite perspective, on his father's death...
heir. Cornwall, along with the neighbouring county of Devon, maintained Stannary institutions that granted some local control over its most important product...
Stannaries: A Study of the English Tin Miner, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0851530550. Pennington, R.R. (1973), StannaryLaw:...
Cornish militia fight against the Scots 1265: Work starts on the Lostwithiel Stannary Palace. It is reputed to be the oldest non-ecclesiastical building in Cornwall...
The Stannary Palace, also known as the Duchy Palace, was a complex of buildings operated by the Dukes of Cornwall as the centre of their administration...
rulers King of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall Feudal Baronies Law Cornish Stannary Parliament Stannarylaw Modern governance Cornwall Council Proposed Cornish Assembly...
rulers King of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall Feudal Baronies Law Cornish Stannary Parliament Stannarylaw Modern governance Cornwall Council Proposed Cornish Assembly...
was appointed Vice-Warden of the Stannaries of Devon. He tried cases concerning mining disputes under StannaryLaw. This post was obtained for him by...
manner. The origins of tribute mining lie in the Stannaries of Cornwall and Devon, and the Stannarylaws. John Taylor (1779-1863), a mining engineer, left...
merit except as relics of mediaeval feudalism, and they contend that Stannarylaw applied not to Cornwall as a 'nation', but merely to the guild of tin...
Stannary Parliament Cornwall Duchy of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall Royal Commission on the Constitution Constitutional status of Cornwall Stannarylaw Cornwall...
Tristan Carew, Richard (1769) [1602]. The Survey of Cornwall. And An Epistle concerning the Excellencies of the English Tongue. E. Law and J. Hewett....
Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency) Cornwall (territorial duchy) StannarylawStannary Hundreds of Cornwall Page 299, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics...
Global Information
Cornwall portal