FOLLOWING the success of the "Great Britons" programme, where Churchill topped the poll above I K Brunel, I suggested to the Falmouth Packet that it would be an interesting exercise to do a series of articles on the Greatest Penrynian and the Greatest Falmothian.

It's not for me to draw up the shortlist for Penryn, and I certainly wouldn't presume to comment on Falmouth's greats, but for Penryn my vote goes to Peter Mundy. Before I outline Mundy's claim to fame, we should consider two points. Should it be "Penrynian" or "Penrynner" and should it be, born in Penryn or long-term resident? I prefer the term "Penrynian," but I wouldn't argue with the alternative. Place of birth shouldn't be critical, as it's the actions or contributions we should focus on.

So, who was Peter Mundy? He was born in Penryn just over 400 years ago, in 1597, and died in Penryn in 1657, but he packed a lot into those 60 years! He was probably educated in one of the old grammar schools in Penryn, and travelled extensively throughout Europe in his teens. His first long voyage was to Constantinople in 1617, returning overland through the Balkans. It was on this journey that he started recording the places, sights and people he encountered. In 1628, Mundy joined the East India Company and journeyed to Curat, North of Bombay, via the Cape and Madagascar. He went to Agra, then the capital of the Mogul Empire. He records seeing the emperor's procession and Shah Jehan's Peacock Throne. After five years with the company, he returned to England via Mauritius where he wrote an account of the soon to be extinct dodo. He returned to Penryn in 1634 and spent some time trading locally and shipping Cornish lobsters to London. He then voyaged as an independent trader to India, Java and Canton, but failed to open up trade with the Chinese. He writes about a drink called chaa, later called "char" by the British Troops in India. Tea was not yet known in Europe. He also writes of life in Penryn and his time living in London when he saw the state funerals of Blake and Cromwell and the Coronation of Charles II.

Mundy was an accomplished writer, artist and astronomer, and his volumes are an important record of life in the 17th century. It is difficult to imagine the difficulties and hazards of travel in those times. His journals and diaries are held in the Bodleian Library. Penryn was always his home and he had a deep love of Penryn and Cornwall. Such journeys would be difficult today, just think what it would have been like 400 years ago. Kevin Paul, town clerk, Penryn

Editor's note: Who is your nominee? Letters or e-mails, please.