THE DUCHY OF CORNWALL

History of the Duchy of Cornwall

The website of the Duchy of Cornwall .. http://duchyofcornwall.org/
Wikipedia page on the Duchy of Cornwall .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Cornwall
Wikipedia page on the Dukes of Cornwall .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Cornwall

Tuesday, 24 May 1921 - Visit of the Duke of Cornwall to Launceston

The newspaper The Cornishman and Cornish Telegraph reported the itinerary of the impending visit of the Edward, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall (later Edward VIII, pictured here in 1919 in Canada) to Tavistock and Launceston. The report is transcribed here:

“10:00 a.m. – Arrive Tavistock. Present new colours to the Royal Munster Fusiliers

“11:00 a.m. – Reach gate of Launceston Castle. Received by Mayor, Constable of Launceston Castle, and Corporation. His Royal Highness standing at the gate of Launceston Castle, the Bayliff will read the following proclamation:-

“Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! – All manner of persons summoned to appear thus day at the great gate of this Castle, and all persons that do owe suit and service to his Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall, Lord of the Honour of Launceston, according to the ancient custom of the Fee of Launceston, draw near and give your attendance.

“The Bayliff reads over the names, and each tenant steps forward as his name is received.

“The Bayliff then says, addressing the tenants:-
“You shall be faithful and legal to HRH the Duke of Cornwall and Lord of this Honour for the manors, lands, tenements you claim to hold from him and you shall now well and truly pay to His Royal Highness those rents, customs and services that you ought to pay and make for the same.

“Then the Bayliff recites each tenant and his holding and the rent due, and each in turn presents his customary rent in kind – the Borough of Launceston, one pound of pepper; the City of Truro, one bow of auburn (i.e. the alder); Sir H M St Aubyn, for the manor of Veryan, presents two greyhounds; Sir Trehawke H Kekewich, for St Tudy, presents a pair of gilded spurs; Mr Swannacott, for Week St Mary, presents a goatskin mantle; Mr Edmund Lyne, for a tenement near Kingston, presents one salmon and a faggot of wood; Capt S Rodd, for North Hill, presents one pound of cummin; Mrs Saunders, for Goscot, Week St Mary, presents a rose; another tenant presents a pair of white gloves.

“His Royal Highness then says:-
“I hereby confirm you tenants and give you peaceable and quiet seizing and possession of the manors, lands and tenements which you hold according to the custom of this Fee of Launceston. (Gives each a white rod.)”

The event was recorded pictorially in the local newspaper, click on this image to see the article.

The images that make up the banner at the top of this page are (L-R): The Black Prince, the first Duke of Cornwall; cumin seeds, a pound of which is the feudal due from the parish of North Hill to the Duke of Cornwall; Edward VIII who was made Duke of Cornwall in 1910; Prince Charles, the current Duke of Cornwall, at Botternell Farm in North Hill in 1994 talking with the resident Doney family.