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Fulup le Breton



Joined: 05 Apr 2007
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Stick this here as well; this is a good article on the UK and its constitution; explains a lot: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-big-question-why-doesnt-the-uk-have-a-written-constitution-and-does-it-matter-781975.html
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Fulup le Breton



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PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2008 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Dear Mr Breton

Re: Request under the 2000 Freedom of Information Act: The Duchy of Cornwall

Thank you for your email of 5 May in which you specifically ask that we treat your correspondence as a Freedom of Information request. You have asked for the provision of information on the following questions;

1) At what point did the sheriff of the Duke cease to collect revenues from the Duchy institutions and people?
2) What mechanisms were used to transfer this right from the Duchy to the Crown (or Parliament)?
3) Why were these prerogative rights transferred to the Crown (or Parliament)?
4) Which Acts of Parliament relate specifically to this first point?

You have also requested information on questions in relation to medieval documents that you claim state Cornwall and England were distinct entities and that this is confirmed by one of the first charters of the first Duke of Cornwall. The particular questions raised include:

1) At what point did this particular distinction of Cornwall's integrity cease to exist?
2) Why did this particular distinction of Cornwall cease to exist if enshrined within the creation of the Duchy?
3) What mechanisms where used to remove this distinction?
4) Which Acts of Parliament relate specifically to this second point?

We have conducted a thorough internal electronic and paper file search on your specific information requests. Unfortunately we do not hold the information you are seeking.

As I have mentioned before there is information available on the Duchy of Cornwall’s website that you may wish to see at the following URL:

http://www.duchyofcornwall.org/index.htm

You may also wish to contact The National Archives to see if they have any publicly available information via their website at the following URL:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

If you are unhappy with the result of your request for information, you may request an internal review within two calendar months of the date of this letter by writing to Access Rights Unit, Ministry of Justice, Selbourne House, 54 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QW.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely,
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Fulup le Breton



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 10:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
House of Commons Information Office: http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hcio.cfm

Quote:
Dear Fulup le Breton

You asked a number of detailed historical questions relating to the Duchy of Cornwall and the legislation behind its current constitutional status.

To the extent that any relevant information is held by the House (which is uncertain) these questions call for a level of research and speculation that go beyond any obligation imposed by the FOI Act. However, I hope that the following will assist you in your endeavours.

Question 4 probably provides the answer to 1 and 2 but the issue would be in identifying the relevant legislation. Most changes to the way in which things were done within the government of the day would be under the auspices of the Privy Council and thus more likely to be a Order in Council rather than an Act of Parliament. The timing of things may influence that but very probably this would be more of a Privy Council operation (which are still used to re-arrange the roles and responsibilities of government departments).

Questions of why (number 3) are definitely under the auspices of historians interpretations of events.

I think that the questions are one of constitution and thus should be put to the Department for Constitutional Affairs. If there are indeed pieces of legislation that still exist then they may be held within the Parliamentary Archives and you could source them directly from the archives.

One of my colleagues from the House of Commons Library indicated the likely historical sequence of events:

In Cornwall A History, Philip Payton[1], traced the developing relationship between Cornwall and England . In a chapter entitled “ Anglia et Cornubia”, he wrote that:

[The Duchy of Cornwall] formalised the relationship between Anglia et Cornubia, both effecting and accommodating Cornwall ’s constitutional position within the state. The Duchy grew out of the earlier earldom of Cornwall , which itself was a singular institution and appears to have been created as an accommodating successor to the earlier line of Cornish chieftain kings.[2]

In later chapters, he again referred to “accommodation” of Cornish feelings, following rebellions in 1497 and 1549. He cited the Charter of Pardon of 1508 restoring and enhancing both the privileges of tinners and the authority of the Stannary Parliament. Although this demonstrated the limits of Tudor authority it also reflected the importance of the Duchy of Cornwall as a “governmental device for wooing and rewarding the Cornish gentry”. He also said that the dissolution of religious houses assisted in this accommodation of the gentry, which was demonstrated in the granting of numerous borough charters and the 44 Members of Parliament representing Cornwall .[3]

The Civil War also had an effect on the Anglicisation of Cornwall. Payton recorded that “the victory of Parliament in the Civil War swept away the Duchy and its administrations”.[4] The Duchy and Stannaries were restored on the Restoration, and Cornwall again started to send 44 MPs to Westminster but “the restored institutions of accommodation did not fully recover their semblance of semi-autonomy”.[5]

-------------------------------------------------

[1] Professor Philip Payton is Director of the Institute of Cornish Studies at the University of Exeter in Cornwall

[2] Philip Payton, Cornwall A History, Cornwall Editions Limited, 2004, p76

[3] Ibid, p131

[4] Ibid, p154

[5] Ibid, p149



The relevant information may lie within documents around the time of Cromwell and the Protectorate. I have searched on our database of Parliamentary debates (contents back to 1979). There have been a number of debates in the House regarding Cornwall but none that seem to touch upon the issues of its constitutional status. You may wish to access hard copy Hansards in a good reference library where you will be able to examine the indexes for reference to Cornwall.

You might also try approaching the office of the Duchy for information and assistance with your research.

Regards

House of Commons Information Office

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 Random Information. 
 For many Cornish people and Cornwall, the Duchy, as shown by the Officers of the Duchy of Cornwall in 1855 in its dispute with the Crown over the ownership of the Cornish Foreshore, has quite a different significance, based on the original Acts and Charters of its creation. Cornwall itself in this framework is described, de jure, as a Duchy (as opposed to an ordinary county), and the Duchy estates are distinguished from the Duchy itself, having themselves been annexed and united to "the aforesaid Duchy". The Duke of Cornwall may even be described as Cornwall's head of state.  


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