Before the Conquest the divisions of the county were probably those afterwards forming the old deaneries, and followed the limits of the Celtic tribes under their several chiefs. Of these there were eight:—East and West, Kerrier, Penwith, Powder, Pyder, Trigg Major, and Trigg Minor, but at the Conquest a redistribution was made in hundreds. These were Conarton, Fawiton, Pawton, Riatton, Stratton, Tibesta or Tibesterna, and Winneton. There may have been an Anglo-Saxon redistribution. But it was a rearrangement that did not last, and never commended itself to the people, and it is not easy now to ascertain what the limits were. Conarton was Penwith. Perhaps Tibesta was Powder and Winneton Kerrier. East and West composed one district of Wyvelshire.

Cornwall was first an Earldom, and then accordingly a County, but when raised to be a Dukedom it became a Duchy. It had two chief officers, the Earl and the Sheriff, the latter appointed by the crown.

The county was divided up into hundreds for administrative purposes. Each hundred was supposed roughly to contain a hundred free families. Each hundred had its own court, and every township its assembly under the reeve. But the tinners were under their own laws and officers, and their court, called the Stannary Court, sat formerly at Lostwithiel. Every manor also had its court.

All the hundreds of Cornwall, except Penwith, from time immemorial belonged to the Earls of Cornwall. The hundreds and Petty Sessional Divisions are now coextensive, and are as follows:—1. Hundred of East (Northern Division). 2. Hundred of East (Southern Division). 3. Hundred of Kerrier. 4. Hundred of Lesnewth. 5. Hundred of Penwith. 6. Hundred of Powder, East. 7. Hundred of Pyder, West. 8. Hundred of Pyder, East. 9. Hundred of Stratton. 10. Hundred of Trigg. 11. Hundred of West.

Cornwall formerly returned four county members in two divisions, but under the provisions of the "Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885," it now returns six members in six divisions. 1. The western or St Ives division. 2. The north-western or Camborne division. 3. The Truro division. 4. The Mid or St Austell division. 5. The south-eastern or Bodmin division. 6. The north-eastern or Launceston division. Under the provisions of the above-mentioned Act, the boroughs of Bodmin, Helston, Launceston, Liskeard, St Ives, and Truro were deprived of independent representation and merged in the county, and Penryn and Falmouth lost one member.

In 1877 the diocese of Truro, taken from that of Exeter, was formed, comprising the whole county of Cornwall, together with the parishes of Broadwood-Widger, Virginstow, Werrington, St Giles on the Heath, and North Petherwin, which are in the county of Devon. The Stannary Court is now at Truro, but its occupation is almost gone.

The Poor Law Unions are Bodmin, Camelford, Falmouth, Helston, Launceston, Liskeard, Penzance, St Austell, Redruth, St Columb, St Germans, Scilly Isles, Stratton, and Truro.

The County Council formed under the Local Government Act of 1888 consists of a chairman, aldermen, and councillors; but for the local government of the towns and parishes another Act was passed in 1894, and new names were given to the local bodies. In the large urban parishes the chief authorities are now entitled District Councils, while the smaller parishes have their Parish Councils or only Parish Meetings.

The Old Guildhall and Pillory, Looe

The Old Guildhall and Pillory, Looe

The county is in the western circuit; the assize and quarter sessions, which were formerly held at Launceston, a most inconvenient place for the purpose, being at the extreme limit of the county, are now held at Bodmin.

In Cornwall there are 223 civil parishes and the municipal boroughs are eleven, Bodmin, Falmouth, Helston, Launceston, Liskeard, Lostwithiel, Penryn, Penzance, Saltash, St Ives, and Truro.

The civil parishes and those that are ecclesiastical are not always conterminous. Of the latter there are 236. There are two Archdeaconries, Cornwall and Bodmin, and twelve deaneries, St Austell, Carnmarth, Kerrier, Penwith, Powder, and Pydar in the Archdeaconry of Cornwall, and Bodmin, East, Stratton, Trigg Major and Minor, and West in that of Bodmin. There is a Bishop at Truro and a suffragan who takes his title from St Germans.