The Lord Warden of the Stannaries (from Latin: stannum for Tin, Sn) used to exercise judicial and military functions in Cornwall, England, UK, and is still the official who, upon the commission of the monarch or Duke of Cornwall for the time being, has the function of calling a stannary parliament of tinners. The last such parliament sat in 1753.
The first Lord Warden of the Stannaries of Cornwall and Devon was William de Wrotham, who was appointed during the reign of Richard I on 20 November 1197. Until 1502 normally separate Lords Warden were appointed for Cornwall and Devon (as shown in brackets below) and these also acted as stewards for Duchy estates in those counties.
In 1502, Robert, 2nd Lord Willoughby de Broke was appointed as Lord Steward for Duchy estates in Cornwall and Devon, Lord Warden of the Stannaries in both, Master Forester of Dartmoor, and the successors appointed since have been granted these offices/titles.
In the present day, the Lord Warden is de facto Deputy Chairman of the Prince's Council (the Chairman being the Duke of Cornwall);[1] as such, he or she plays a key role in administering the Duchy of Cornwall estate. The current holder of the post (since December 2022) is Hugo van Vredenburch.[1]
A relevant Vice-Warden, frequently for one of the two counties for a warden who normally lived elsewhere, existed through many of the years 1386 to 1870. Other than being assigned roles connected to the occasional parliaments these had responsibilities as controller of the coinage and master of assay, working in concert with the Royal Mint which dominated high-value coinage end products through its jury system of trial of the Pyx.
Lord Steward and Lord Warden of the Stannaries in Cornwall and Devon (1197–present)
^J.S. Roskell; L. Clark; C. Rawcliffe, eds. (1993). "Reynell (Reynald), Walter, of Malston, Devon, and Badlingham, Cambridgeshire". History of Parliament: House of Commons 1386-1421. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
Bibliography
For list of Lords Steward and Lords Warden of the Stannaries in Cornwall and Devon, and Vice-Wardens of the Stannaries (1197–1965):
Pennington, R.R. (1973), Stannary Law: A History of the Mining Law of Cornwall and Devon, Newton Abbot: David and Charles, pp. 223–6, ISBN 978-0715357835.
Stansfield-Cudworth, R.E. (2013), "The Duchy of Cornwall and the Wars of the Roses: Patronage, Politics, and Power, 1453–1502", Cornish Studies, 2nd Series, 21: 104–50, doi:10.1386/CORN.21.1.104_1, ISSN 0308-2679.