The banner of the Duchy of Cornwall.
The arms of the Duchy of Cornwall.
The 'Duchy of Cornwall' is, with the
Duchy of Lancaster, one of the two Royal
duchies in
England. The true nature of the duchy, and whether it should be considered to be in England, is a matter of dispute within
Cornwall. The eldest son of the reigning monarch automatically becomes Duke of Cornwall upon the accession to the throne of his royal parent. The current Duke of Cornwall is
The Prince of Wales.
The
Duke of Cornwall uses the term (although the right to do so is challenged within the current dispute) to describe what is said to be a
property company[1] (though it pays no
corporation tax), and has holdings throughout the country, with possessions totaling 571 km² (or 135,000 acres). Nearly half of the holdings are in
Devon, with other large holdings in Cornwall,
Herefordshire, and
Somerset. Annual profit in
2004 was £13,143,000.
As a
Crown body, the Duchy is
tax-exempt, but since
1993 The Prince has voluntarily paid
income tax on his income from it. The Prince paid a voluntary contribution to the
Treasury of 50% of his Duchy income from the time he became eligible for its full income at the age of 21 in
1969, and had paid 25% since his 1981 marriage. Tax is calculated after deducting business expenditure, the biggest source of which is The Prince's staff of around 110—from private secretaries to a
valet—working in his office at
Clarence House and at
Highgrove House. Detailed records are kept to determine the split between public and private expenditure.
Duchy of Cornwall dispute
For some
Cornish people (see the
constitutional status of Cornwall) and
Cornwall (territorial duchy), 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,
[1] 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. For example, the Duke traditionally had a ceremonial role in summoning the
Cornish Stannary Parliament. In addition the Treasury Solicitors agency for Bona Vicantia Division considers The Duchy of Cornwall to comprise the County of Cornwall
[2].
It should be noted, however, that the administrative machinery of Cornwall almost invariably refers to itself as a county (including, for example, Cornwall County Council itself) in the
English language. Although it can be argued that the administrative county and Duchy in this sense are separate, co-existing entities, this should be considered within the context of the Honour (Kingdom/Dukedom) within which exists the necessary infrastructure for administration and taxation (county/shire). The administrative county of Cornwall, therefore, being ''within'' the Duchy of Cornwall. The reason why the Royal Commission on the Constitution (Kilbrandon 1973) recommended that Cornwall be officially referred to as 'the Duchy' to recognise expressed concerns over its territorial integrity.
The Duchy was established in
1337 by
Edward III of England for his son,
Edward, Prince of Wales. We can get a feel for the significance of this honour from a subsequent grant. The Charter of 1st Henry IV. to Prince Henry, the eldest Son of that King, states as follows : ''“We have made and created Henry our most dear first-begotten Son, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester, and have given and granted, and by our Charter have confirmed to him the said Principality, Duchy, and Earldom, that he may preside there, and by presiding, may direct and defend the said parts. We have invested him with the said Principality, Duchy, and Earldom, per sertum in capite et annulum in digito aureum ac virgam auream juxta morem.”''
It is commonly understood that the augmentation of the former Earldom of Cornwall into a Duchy occurred on 17 March 1337 by the First Duchy Charter. Whilst this now appears to be entitled the 'Charter of Creation' it was originally called 'The Great Charter' and within it, it can be seen as referring to the fact of the Duchy as having already been created. This charter is simply an enumeration of what this territorial possession comprises in terms of territory, estates, revenues and rights - both public and private. This was done to remove, as stated within the Charter, any doubt over what the Honor comprised. During the latter period of the Earldom of Cornwall various parts of this territorial possession where granted as separate parcels (e.g., Stannaries, vicecomitatus etc.) and which could have been construed as a severance from the Earldom. The purpose of the First Charter was to show clearly that these still formed part of the Honor. From this it is shown that it is:
::a) - incorrect to assign the name of this territorial honor exclusively to the estates, which formed only a part of the possessions ''annexed and united'' the Duchy of Cornwall, and,
::b) - considered inappropriate to use the name of this territorial Honour as a commercial brand name.
Both the Duchy of Cornwall and its counterpart, the
Duchy of Lancaster (since 1399 held by the monarch in a personal capacity), have special legal rights not available to other landed estates: for example, the rules on
Bona Vacantia operate in favour of the holders of the duchies (as opposed to
the Crown). There are separate
Attorneys General for the Duchies. Generally, the exemptions all tend to follow the same line: any rights pertaining to the Crown generally in most areas of the country instead pertain to the Duke of Cornwall in right of the Duchy.
In
1780 Edmund Burke sought to curtail further the power of the Crown by removing the various principalities which existed.
… ''the five several distinct principalities besides the supreme …. If you travel beyond Mount Edgcumbe, you find him [the king] in his incognito, and he is duke of Cornwall …. Thus every one of these principalities has the apparatus of a kingdom …. Cornwall is the best of them….''
However, his Parliamentary Bill failed, due to the fact that the current Duke was under age.
Discrepancies in the Great Charter translations
The English translation of the 17 March 1337
Great Charter (or in Latin "Magna Carta"), as deployed in Rowe v Brenton (Manning edition 1830) states that ''the King's son is "Duke of Cornwall and heir to the Kingdom of England".''
A revised Government translation states that ''the King's son is "Duke of Cornwall in the Kingdom of England"'' (
Halsbury's Laws 1973).
The Charter Roll of 16 March 1337 announcing the Great Charter said that inspiration ''was drawn from the time when Cornwall was recognised as being a separate Kingdom, and that the intention was to "restore Cornwall’s original ancient honours".''
Today the Duchy states that the ''"main purpose of the Charter is to create an income for the Duke".''
In 1857 the Duchy stated that the ''three Charters confirm and acknowledge Cornwall as being co-terminous with the Duchy, which is extra-territorial to England and subject to its own chief ruler, law making apparatus and tax raising regime.''
Today the Duchy states that ''"it is merely a collection of private estates".'
Halsbury's Laws refer only to the 17 March 1337 Great Charter. Two subsequent Charters of 18 March 1337 and 3 January 1338 confirming that Cornwall was for all time to be subject to its own law-making regime, and not subject to England’s Summons of Exchequer are not referenced.
Today there is a Parliamentary injunction
[3] preventing MPs from raising questions about, or even attempting to discuss, these matters. On 16 July 1997 the
Liberal Democrat Andrew George MP attempted to raise a Duchy-related question but he was prevented by an injunction that disallows MPs raising any questions in
Parliament that are in any way related to the Duchy.
In 2006 the case for Cornwall, in respect of alleged violations of the
European Convention of Human Rights, Articles 6, (independent and impartial courts); 8, (respect family life); 10, (freedom of expression); 13, (violations by officials); 14 with Protocol 12, (discrimination on the grounds of association with a national minority, property, birth or other status); 17, (the official destruction of rights); Protocol 1 Article 1, (property rights) with 385 supporting documents, was submitted by members of the
Cornish Stannary Parliament to the
European Court of Human Rights. On 13 April 2006 the Court stated that it: "will deal with the case as soon as practicable".
Offices
Lord Warden of the Stannaries
★ ''See
Lord Warden of the Stannaries''
Chancellor (Keeper of the Privy Seal)
★ 1802–1806:
Thomas Erskine
★ 1806–1815:
William Adam[4]
★ 1816–1818?:
John Leach[5]
★ 1843–1846?:
Thomas Pemberton Leigh[6]
★ 1846?–1852:
Sir William Gibson-Craig, Bt
★ 1852–1853:
Marquess of Chandos[7]
★ 1853–1855:
Lord Alfred Hervey[8]
★ 1855–1858:
The Viscount Monck
★ 1858–1858:
Henry Brand[9]
★ 1858–1859:
Henry Whitmore[10]
★ 1859–1863:
Sir William Alexander, Bt[11]
★ 1863–1865:
Sir William Dunbar, Bt[12]
★ 1865–1870:
Herbert William Fisher[13]
★ 1870–1901:
The Earl of Leicester[14]
★ 1901–1906:
The Earl Spencer[15]
★ 1907–1913:
The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe[16]
★ 1913–1933:
The Lord Clinton
★ 1933–1936?:
The Earl of Radnor[17]
★ 1977–1983:
The Marquess of Lothian
★ 1990–1994:
The Hon. Sir John Baring (later Lord Ashburton)
Receiver-General
★ 1533–1550?:
Sir Thomas Arundell
★ fl. 1722:
Edward Eliot
★ bef. 1740–1748?:
Richard Eliot
★ 1751–1804:
Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot[18]
★ 1804–1807:
Richard Brinsley Sheridan[19]
★ 1807–1808:
The Viscount Lake
★ 1808–1816:
Richard Brinsley Sheridan[20]
★ 1816–1817:
Sir John McMahon, Bt
★ 1817–1823?:
Lord William Gordon[21]
★ 1823–1830?:
Sir William Knighton, Bt
★ 1830?–1849?:
Henry Wheatley
★ 1862–1866:
Sir Charles Beaumont Phipps[22]
★ 1866–1878:
Sir Thomas Myddleton-Biddulph[23]
★ 1878–1883:
Sir William Thomas Knollys[24]
★ 1883–1888:
Sir John Rose, Bt[25]
★ 1888–1908:
Sir Robert Kingscote[26]
★ 1908–1929:
The Lord Revelstoke[27]
★ 1929–1936:
Sir Edward Peacock[28]
★ 1961–1973:
The Lord Ashburton
★ 1974–1990:
The Hon. Sir John Baring (later Lord Ashburton)
★ 1990–2000:
The Earl Cairns[29]
★ 2000–present:
The Hon. James Leigh-Pemberton
Attorney-General
★ 1613–?:
Sir John Walter
★ 1634–?:
Sir Richard Lane
★ 1643–1648?:
Sir Robert Holborne
★ 1783–1793:
Thomas Erskine (later Lord Erskine)
★ 1793–1800:
Robert Graham[30]
★ 1800–1805:
Vicary Gibbs
★ 1805–1806:
William Adam[31]
★ 1806–1812:
William Garrow[4]
★ 1812–1815:
Joseph Jekyll[33]
★ 1816–1818:
William Draper Best[5]
★ 1819–bef. 1829?:
Charles Warren[35]
★ 1841–1843:
Thomas Pemberton (later Lord Kingsdown)
★ 1843–1852:
The Hon. John Chetwynd-Talbot[6]
★ 1852–1863:
Sir Edward Smirke
★ 1863–1873:
Sir William Alexander, Bt[12]
★ 1873–1877:
George Loch[38]
★ 1877–1877:
Alfred Henry Theisinger[39]
★ 1877–1892:
Sir Charles Hall[40]
★ 1892–1895:
Sir Henry James[41] (later Lord James of Hereford)
★ 1895–1914:
Charles Cripps[42] (later Lord Parmoor)
★ 1914–1915:
George Cave (later Lord Cave)
★ 1915–1916:
Henry Duke[43] (later Lord Merrivale)
★ 1920–1922:
Sir Douglas Hogg (later Viscount Hailsham)
★ 1923–1928:
Anthony Hawke[44]
★ 1928–1932:
Geoffrey Lawrence[45] (later Lord Trevethin and Oaksey)
★ 1932–1951:
Walter Monckton[46] (later Lord Monckton of Brenchley)
★ 1951–1960:
Charles Russell (later Lord Russell of Killowen)
★ 1960–1969:
Sir Joseph Molony
★ 1969–1977:
Anthony Lloyd
★ 1978–1988:
Andrew Morritt
★ 1988–1994:
Robert Carnwath
★ 1994–1997:
Sir Jeremy Sullivan[47]
★ 1998–2006:
Nicholas Underhill[48]
★ 2006–present:
Jonathan Crow[49]
Surveyor-General
★ 1747–1751:
The Lord Baltimore
★ 1751–1796?:
Edward Bayntun-Rolt[50]
★ 1796?–?:
Sir John Morshead, Bt
★ 1808–1829:
Benjamin Tucker[51]
★ 1833–1849:
Philip Sidney, 1st Baron De L'Isle and Dudley
★ 1849–?:
James Robert Gardiner[52]
Keeper of the Records
★ 1843–1849:
James Robert Gardiner[6]
★ ?–1873:
Joshua Wigley Bateman
★ 1873–1886:
George Wilmshurst[54]
★ 1886–1908:
Sir Maurice Holzmann[55]
★ 1908–1930?:
Walter Peacock[56]
★ 1936–1954:
Sir Clive Burn
★ ?–1972:
Sir Patrick Kingsley
★ 1972–1981:
Francis Anthony Gray[57]
★ 1981–1986:
John Walter Yeoman Higgs[58]
★ 1987–1993:
Sir David Landale[59]
★ 1993–1997:
Sir John James
★ 1997–present:
Bertie Ross
Auditor
★ ?–1751:
Robert Andrews
★ 1751–bef. 1767?:
William Trevannion[18]
★ 1791–1796:
John Willett Payne[61]
★ 1796–1803:
Thomas Tyrwhitt
★ 1803–1816:
Sir John McMahon, Bt
★ 1816–1817:
Sir Benjamin Bloomfield
★ 1817–1823:
Sir William Knighton, Bt
★ 1823–1841:
George Harrison
★ 1843–1851:
Edward White[6]
★ 1851–1891:
Sir William Anderson[63]
★ 1891–1916:
Lesley Probyn[64]
★ 1916–?:
Laurence Halsey[65]
★ 1957–?:
Edmund Parker
★ 1971–1993:
Jeffery Bowman
Solicitor-General
★ 1783–1792:
Sir Arthur Leary Piggott
★ 1793–1795:
John Anstruther[30]
★ 1795–1800:
Vicary Gibbs
★ 1800–1802:
Thomas Manners-Sutton
★ 1802–1805:
William Adam[67]
★ 1805–1812:
Joseph Jekyll[31]
★ 1812–1813:
Samuel Shepherd[33]
★ 1813–1816:
William Draper Best[70]
★ 1816–? aft. 1818:
William Harrison[5]
★ 1845–1852:
Edward Smirke
★ 1908–1940:
Robert Ernest Tucker
★ 1940–1954:
Sir Clive Burn
★ 1954–1972:
Brian Stopford
★ 1972–1976:
Joseph Frederick Burrell
★ 1976–1994:
Henry Boyd-Carpenter[72]
★ 1994–present:
James Furber[47]
See also
★
Cornwall (territorial duchy)
★
★
Duke of Cornwall
★
Duchess of Cornwall
★
Cornwall
★
UK topics
★
List of topics related to Cornwall
References
1. Guardian -Jan 2005 - The prince of property and his £460m business empire
2. Bona Vacantia - See Jusrisdiction
3. Letter from the House of Commons Library to Andrew George MP, dated 16 July 1997
4. The ''London Gazette'', issue 15888, 8 February 1806
5. The ''London Gazette'', issue 17111, 17 February 1816
6. The ''London Gazette'', issue 20226, 19 May 1843
7. The ''London Gazette'', issue 21303, 23 March 1852
8. The ''London Gazette'', issue 21408, 4 February 1853
9. The ''London Gazette'', issue 22097, 16 February 1858
10. The ''London Gazette'', issue 22116, 23 March 1858
11. The ''London Gazette'', issue 22281, 1 July 1859
12. The ''London Gazette'', issue 22702, 27 January 1863
13. The ''London Gazette'', issue 22991, 14 July 1865
14. The ''London Gazette'', issue 23672, 28 October 1870
15. The ''London Gazette'', issue 27294, 15 March 1901
16. The ''London Gazette'', issue 28004, 15 March 1907
17. The ''London Gazette'', issue 33960, 14 July 1933
18. The ''London Gazette'', issue 9070, 25 June 1971
19. The ''London Gazette'', issue 15679, 28 February 1804
20. The ''London Gazette'', issue 16140, 26 April 1808
21. The ''London Gazette'', issue 17289, 27 September 1817
22. The ''London Gazette'', issue 22629, 27 May 1862
23. The ''London Gazette'', issue 23097, 6 April 1866
24. The ''London Gazette'', issue 24633, 15 October 1878
25. The ''London Gazette'', issue 25253, 24 July 1883
26. The ''London Gazette'', issue 25868, 23 October 1888
27. The ''London Gazette'', issue 28190, 30 October 1908
28. The ''London Gazette'', issue 33520, 26 July 1929
29. The ''London Gazette'', issue 52356, 6 December 1990
30. The ''London Gazette'', issue 13497, 26 January 1793
31. The ''London Gazette'', issue 15778, 5 February 1805
32. The ''London Gazette'', issue 15888, 8 February 1806
33. The ''London Gazette'', issue 16619, 30 June 1812
34. The ''London Gazette'', issue 17111, 17 February 1816
35. The ''London Gazette'', issue 17481, 29 May 1819
36. The ''London Gazette'', issue 20226, 19 May 1843
37. The ''London Gazette'', issue 22702, 27 January 1863
38. The ''London Gazette'', issue 23968, 18 April 1873
39. The ''London Gazette'', issue 24502, 11 September 1877
40. The ''London Gazette'', issue 24523, 20 November 1877
41. The ''London Gazette'', issue 26259, 19 February 1892
42. The ''London Gazette'', issue 26644, 16 July 1895
43. The ''London Gazette'', issue 29398, 10 December 1915
44. The ''London Gazette'', issue 32803, 6 March 1923
45. The ''London Gazette'', issue 33403, 13 June 1928
46. The ''London Gazette'', issue 33821, 29 April 1932
47. The ''London Gazette'', issue 53809, 4 October 1994
48. The ''London Gazette'', issue 55140, 29 May 1998
49. The ''London Gazette'', issue 58161, 23 November 2006
50. The ''London Gazette'', issue 9070, 25 June 1751
51. The ''London Gazette'', issue 16158, 28 June 1808
52. The ''London Gazette'', issue 20961, 27 March 1849
53. The ''London Gazette'', issue 20226, 19 May 1843
54. The ''London Gazette'', issue 23990, 20 June 1873
55. The ''London Gazette'', issue 25635, 19 October 1886
56. The ''London Gazette'', issue 28122, 24 March 1908
57. The ''London Gazette'', issue 45663, 4 May 1972
58. The ''London Gazette'', issue 48565, 26 March 1981
59. The ''London Gazette'', issue 50714, 12 November 1986
60. The ''London Gazette'', issue 9070, 25 June 1971
61. The ''London Gazette'', issue 13362, 15 November 1971
62. The ''London Gazette'', issue 20226, 19 May 1843
63. The ''London Gazette'', issue 21214, 30 May 1851
64. The ''London Gazette'', issue 26143, 13 March 1891
65. The ''London Gazette'', issue 29434, 11 January 1916
66. The ''London Gazette'', issue 13497, 26 January 1793
67. The ''London Gazette'', issue 15478, 8 May 1802
68. The ''London Gazette'', issue 15778, 5 February 1805
69. The ''London Gazette'', issue 16619, 30 June 1812
70. The ''London Gazette'', 16826, 18 December 1813
71. The ''London Gazette'', issue 17111, 17 February 1816
72. The ''London Gazette'', issue 46943, 24 June 1976
73. The ''London Gazette'', issue 53809, 4 October 1994
External links
★
The Duchy of Cornwall website
★
Duchy Originals the Duchy's organic produce brand
★
Guardian Unlimited article
★
Celtic Frontier or County Boundary? Competing discourses of a late nineteenth century British border
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