A N C I E N T BO RO U G H OF H E LSTO N . a a urve . (9? S fiorf fi isfory h S y By B . H . N TO' 5c . SPE CE R , 'I H E LS TON P RI N TE D A N D P UB LI S H E D B ' J OH N L A N DE R S ON , 8 W E N D RO N S TR E E T. , Q‘Z C/ P R E FA E C . —o H E a nc i ent R E I S , i n our Borough of H els ton , a very rea l d e m a nd for som e book d e a l i ng w i th th e a s e c t s . I vari ous p of our past hi story As fa r as know , n o book has previ ously b e e n written that t re a t s of d H elston exclusively , and i f th is l i ttle pamphlet succee s s mn e i n sma l l m easure i n fil l i n g thi s vacancy , i t wi l l have served i ts purpose . In n o sense does i t pretend to b e a trea ti se on th e subj ect ; i t i s rather a k in d of sum mary , sett i ng out a few si mpl e facts b a ou t our town , and som e aspects of i ts l i fe . that shou ld appea l r l v to al l who have i mb i bed the t u ci vi c Spi ri t . The roots of the t a a presen t l i e i n the pas , an d n o one i s ble to ppreciate the si gn i ficance of the tren d o f events i n ou r modern l i fe , un less he I t has som e knowl edge of what has gon e before . has tru ly been stated that i t is by stud y that we b ecome contem porari es of every age and ci t izens of the world . An d so i t has seemed wel l to set on record som e few facts i n th e h i story of ou r Borough . I have rece i ve d hel p from many sourc es . I w ish to express my deep sense of ob li gati on to m y fri end , Alderm an T . C . Reed , J P . , form erly Mayor of Launceston , for m uch help of a genera l c . I c d e r chara ter a lso desire to thank the Rev . Si r Molesworth l . J . P . St . Aubyn , Bart , , for i nformat ion re at ing to the G ram mar \ C c V . S hool , and the Rev . M , H . M i lner , and Mr harl es ’ J P . a . for in format i on concerni ng St M ich el s Church W I M r . am very great ly i ndebted to Wa lker Tyacke , Town C lerk , for access to the Borough Records , an d to Mr . Wesl ey hi s I Moyl e for al l help i n connect i on w i th the same . m ust also than k Mr . R . S . H aydon , M . A . , for m uch val uabl e assistance w i th t he translat ions throughout the book . For most of the M is c e l l a ne ou s I Items , a m indebted to my former teacher , Mrs . B a nfi e l d . , of Ivy Bank School , to Mr John Gi l l , our l leadin g m i n eralogist , an d to M iss Russel l , now of St . Auste l . ’ ' f I P e na l u na s In t i m es of d i ficu lty , too , have consu l ted Ci rcle of Corn wa l l ” and ' The Paroch ial H i story of Corn wa l l ” e a work especi al ly strong on cclesi asti ca l ma tters , k i ndly C n u n a ck . l ent me from the l i brary of th e l ate Mr . Jam es ’ Do i d e s The ki ndness of the pub li shers of g Annua l , H o t on £5» ha s Messrs . y Cole , of Plym outh , i n lend ing b locks m ade the i nsert ion of i l lustrat i ons possib le . There are also m any others to whom I owe most hearty thanks for va luab le suggest ions and cri t ici sm s . TO' H . S PENCE R . B a nk H ou s e H el s t on , h 2 t 1 91 2 . D ecember 8 , C ON T E N TS . A G E P . TH E C H ARTE RS PARLIAMENTAR ' RE P R ESEN TATI O N TH E M UN ICI P AL INSI GN IA LIST OF MA'O RS LIST OF RECO R D ER S LIST OF FR EEME N LIST O F TOW N C LE R K S LIST O F C LE R K S OF TH E PEACE TH E O W C O IL 1 1 2 - 1 T N UNC , 9 3 TH E C O MMISSI ONS OF TH E PEACE PU B LIC BUI L DIN GS A N D M ON UM EN TS ’ T M I H AEL S C H H S . C URC TH E H ELSTO N GRAMMAR SC H OOL TH E T R E V E N E N E X H I B ITI ON TH E LOE V ALL E ' TH E B OR OU GH LAN D S TH E EI GH T H OF M A ' M ISCE LLAN E OUS ITEMS I N DE x The Ancie nt Bo rough of He ls ton C A T H E H RT E R S . H E Anci ent Borough of H elston has been granted no l ess than si xteen charters fro m t i me to t i m e . In the ' d t i m e of Al fred the Great , the whole hun red of K e rr e r y was i n chi ef dom i nated from i t , so that I m ake no doubt that th is was a pri v i l eged place before the I n I C . 2 0 . 1 80 N or ma n onquest the Dom esday Ro l l , Wi l l ia m 7 , ’ H e l n z s t on. ' i t was taxed u nder the nam e Moreover Brooke , ork . C H erald , tel l s us , temp Jam es I . i n the Catalogue of orn ish Earls , that t he pri vi leges O f th i s town or manor were concerted i nto a charter , an d i ncorporated by R ichard Planta genet , Earl of C I I C u r - ornwa l l , th i rd son of K i ng H en ry , surnam ed lyon , from - H e l l e s t on h is l i on l i ke heart , i n the na me of , as appea red from w the cha rter , h ich h e had then i n h i s custody , to the sea l whereof ” was a ffi xed a l i on ram pant . As far as i s known , however , the oldest Charter now 1 2 00 ex i st in g i s the one granted by Ki n g john i n the year . The w fo l lowi ng i s a copy of thi s charter , abbrevi a t i ons bei ng ri tten out i n fu l l H i b e rni a e J ohannes Dei Grat i a Rex An gli ae , Dom i nus , N o rm a nni a e e t A u i t a n i a e A nd e a v i a e Dux q , Com es g J u s t i c ia ri i s - C o m i t i b u s e t Ba l l i v i s e t fi d e l i b u s , Vice omn ibus su i s S a l u t e m . 8 S c i a t i s no s c o nce s s i s s e e t praesent i C arta nostra con fi rmasse quod Burgus noster de H e l l e s t o n si t l i ber Burgus e t quod B u rg e ns e s nostri de eadem vi lla ha b e a nt G i l d a m M e rca t o r i a m e t q u i e ta ne i a m per t o t a m t e r ra m no s t ra m de The o l o ni a P o nta g i o Passagio S ta l l a g i o L e s ta g i o e t S o l l a g i o s a l v i s i n omn ibus l i b e rt a t i b u s Civ itati s London .