The Parochial History of Cornwall, Volume 3 (of 4)
History
The Parochial History of Cornwall, Volume 3 (of 4)
Cornwall (England : County) -- History; Geology -- England -- Cornwall (County)
in churches and churchyards, though not before. [See Dr. Borlase’s
Antiquities, 2d edit. p. 391, and the plate in Lysons’s Cornwall, p.
ccxxi. Editor.]
Landithy. Landegey, Landigey, in this parish, contiguous with the
church, which signifies the temple church, was formerly the lands of
the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, now ―――― Flemen,
gent.
In this parish, at ―――― liveth Francis Seynt Aubyn, esq. sometime
Commissioner for the Peace, who married ―――― Arundel, of this place,
whose lands it was, and Crocker of St. Agnes, and hath issue. He is a
younger son of John Seyntaubyn, of Clowens, esq. by Godolphin of
Treveneage.
Upon the south part of this parish, at the head of St. Michael’s
Mount’s Bay, on a little promontory of land shooting into the sea, is
situate the market and coinage town of Pensance, or Penzance, which
stands now rated in the Exchequer as a noun substantive, or distinct
jurisdiction from Maddarne; whereas the borough of Camelford is taxed
under Lenteglos, Mitchell under Newlan, and St. Enedor-Bosithney under
Dundagell.
The old chapel, and the whole town of Penzance, the 20th July 1595,
was burnt to ashes by five Spanish galleys, that then came into St.
Michael’s Mount’s Bay for that purpose, of which fact there is a large
history to be seen in Mr. Carew’s Survey of Cornwall, page 156, (page
381, Lord Dunstanville’s edition); since which time the new chapel
hath been founded and beautified as it now stands, and the old town
comparatively all new built of brick and stone, and augmented with a
greater number of houses than before.
It was incorporated by charter from King James the First, with the
jurisdiction of a court leet, by the name of the Mayor, Aldermen, or
Magistrates, before whose tribunal all pleas of debt and damage,
within the precincts of that borough, are judged and determined by the
said charter; it is also made the fifth town for coinage of tin, at
the usual times of the year, by the Duke of Cornwall’s officers, as
also with a weekly market on Thursdays, and fairs yearly, on Thursday
before Advent Sunday, and also on Trinity Thursday.
This town of Penzance, anno Dom. 1646, in the time of the wars between
King Charles I. and his Parliament, for the kindness and charity the
inhabitants showed to the Lord Goring’s and Lord Hopton’s troops of
horse, driven into those parts by Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Parliament
General, was made a prey to his soldiers or troops, who for two days
had the plunder of the town and its inhabitants’ goods, to the one’s
great loss and the other’s great enriching; for one of those troopers,
viz. Edward Best, of St. Wenn, had to his share five gallons of
English coin, silver and gold, and pieces of eight, as I was told by
one of his servants, that was the measurer and spectator thereof;
though long since all riotously spent, as also the shares of his
fellow-troopers Littlecot, Keen, and Lockyer of Roach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account