History of Penzance

Penzance births, deaths and marriages were recorded) shows a massive increase in deaths for 1578, from 12 the previous year to 155. This is estimated to be about 10% of the population of the village at the time. The plague also returned in 1647 and the registers again show an increase of from 22 burials to 217 in one year.

Being at the far west of Cornwall, Penzance and the surrounding villages have been sacked many times by foreign fleets. On 23 July 1595, several years after the Spanish Armada of 1588, a Spanish force under Don Carlos de Amesquita, which had been patrolling the Channel, landed troops in Cornwall. Amesquita's force seized supplies, raided and burned Penzance and surrounding villages, held a mass, and sailed away before it could be confronted.

Penzance as a town since 1614

The reason for Penzance's relative success probably stems from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries when King Henry IV granted the town a royal market in 1404. Henry VIII in 1512 granted the right to charge harbour dues, and King James I granted the town the status of a Borough in 1614. The Charter defined the bounds of the town by an artificial line formed by a half-mile circle, measured from the market cross in the Green market. The granting of Borough status made the town independent of the County Courts, a right held until County Councils came into being in 1888. Other privileges included owning land and property; imposing fines for breaking bylaws; holding a civil court with jurisdiction over cases not exceeding £50; and providing a prison. The Charter also confirmed the harbour rights given earlier in 1512 and granted two weekly markets to be held on Tuesdays and Thursday; which replaced a single market previously held on Wednesdays. Seven fairs were granted (or confirmed):

Corpus Christi, the