We know who represented Derbyshire in the House of Commons in 28 of the 32 Parliaments which met between 1386 and 1421 (inclusive), the returns having been lost for the rest. Allowing for these gaps in the evidence, 31 men at least were elected, the majority being without much experience of parliamentary affairs.
Although originally a Roman settlement, Carlisle was not continuously occupied throughout the Dark Ages. It was William Rufus who, in 1092, repaired the fortifications and placed a substantial garrison in the city for defence against the Scots. With the exception of a few years at the beginning of the next century, Carlisle remained directly under the control of the Crown; and its position as a border stronghold moulded its political and economic history for the rest of the Middle Ages and early modern period.
Returns survive for Cumberland for 28 of the 32 Parliaments which met between 1386 and 1421 (inclusive), those for 1411, 1413 (Feb.), 1415 and 1416 (Oct.) having been lost. The names of 29 shire knights are known, of whom the great majority—20 in all—sat in the Lower House more than once, albeit sometimes for other constituencies. On the whole, however, the general level of parliamentary experience was still not particularly high.
The town of Truro achieved corporate existence in the 1150s when Richard Lucy, afterwards Henry II’s chief justiciar, separated it from his manor of Kenwyn at the head of a main tidal creek of the Fal estuary. Lucy conferred on the inhabitants certain liberties (including the right to have a court of their own, to levy tolls and rents and to manage their own commercial affairs), and obtained confirmation of his charters from Reynold, earl of Cornwall, as well as from the King.
Lostwithiel was founded some time in the 12th century at the lowest bridging point across the river Fowey, by a member of the powerful family of Cardinan, owners of the manor of Bodardle, which then included the greater part of the parish of Lanlivery. The borough was established before 1194, when Robert Cardinan paid the King ten marks for the privilege of holding a market there, but his grand daughter was induced to sell not only her castle of Restormel (built in about 1200) and its park, but also this township to Henry III’s brother, Richard, earl of Cornwall.
Liskeard, unlike Launceston (Dunheved), Lostwithiel and Truro, was not a ‘new’ town, planted in the early Middle Ages by a local lord. First mentioned in about 1000, it was of similar antiquity to Helston, having grown up gradually near Bodmin moor upon which the tin workings of the stannary district of Foweymore were later located. The courts of the stannary were often held at Liskeard, but the town never became a centre of the tin trade on the same scale as Lostwithiel or Truro.
By the later Middle Ages three separate townships had grown up at Launceston: Launceston ‘St. Stephen’, Dunheved and Newport. Each of the three at various times adopted the name of ‘Launceston’, and confusion between them increased after 1529 when both Newport and Dunheved returned Members to Parliament, for Newport made returns as ‘Launceston’ and Dunheved (which until then had generally done the same) took to using its ancient name. However, in the 14th and early 15th centuries Newport was of minor importance, and the histories of the other two townships may be easily disentangled.
The town of Helston was the focal point of the manor of Helston-in-Kerrier, the most westerly of the assessionable manors of the duchy of Cornwall, and also the biggest. Before the Black Death approximately 5,000 areas were leased to the tenants of the manor, with perhaps an additional 2,500 acres held in free tenancies. But the manor contained large tracks of barren land suitable for use only as rough pasture, which would only be leased in response to an exceptional demand for foodstuffs and land, such as that created by extensive mining activity.
The town of Bodmin owed its existence to the priory built in the tenth century on the site where St. Petrock was buried. At the time of the Domesday survey, when the priory possessed 68 houses and a market there, Bodmin was the largest settlement in Cornwall. But although it retained its pre-eminence over the other Cornish towns with regard to size, its position under the lordship of the priory made it an unsuitable place for use as a centre for royal administration. Even so, there was clearly some anxiety in Launceston that Bodmin might usurp the place of county town.
Twenty-nine returns for Cornwall have survived from 32 Parliaments, with only those of 1413 (Feb.), 1415 and 1416 (Oct.) remaining untraced. To 14 of these Parliaments there were elected two men who both had previous experience of the workings of the Commons, and in a further ten one of the Members had sat before. So, in perhaps no more than five Parliaments—1388 (Feb.), 1391, 1402, 1413 (May) and 1420—were both knights of the shire newcomers to the House.
