§ SIR LAWRENCE PALKsaid, he would beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade, If any arrangement has been made between the Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall for defining their respective rights to the foreshores of South Devon, and their respective jurisdictions; and, if so, whether he will state the nature of such arrangements; and, whether it it true the Duchy have claimed Petty Customs on some of the goods in vessels recently wrecked at Broadsands, as if they had been regularly imported?
§ MR. CHILDERSreplied, that by a grant of Edward III. to the Black Prince what were called the Waters of Dartmouth were given to the Duchy of Cornwall, and under that grant the Duchy claimed certain rights not only in the Port of Dartmouth, but on certain portions of the coast of Devonshire. After the grant of a portion of the foreshore, some years ago, those rights became the subject of inquiry, and an arrangement had been made as between the Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall, but in no way prejudicing or confirming the rights of the Crown and of the Duchy as against private persons. When goods were landed from wrecks for consumption they paid the dues, but when they were landed for re-shipment those dues, though legally claimable, had not been exacted.