We have seen that the preferred destination of the majority of Redruth’s sons and daughters in the mid-1800s was the United States. Most of them would have begun their journey by travelling north to embark from Liverpool. Meanwhile, others went north and stayed there. Ellen Chegwidden was the daughter of a sawyer in Redruth in … Continue reading Redruth, Cymru and Cumbria
Category: social history
Some Redruth folk’s marital issues
Occasionally, peering through the routine pages of the nineteenth century censuses examining the lives of our predecessors can seem to veer perilously close to prurient curiosity. Perhaps we discover something that they tried hard to hide – an illegitimate child brought up by the grandparents, a deserted wife describing herself as a widow, a bigamist … Continue reading Some Redruth folk’s marital issues
Redruth: America’s 51st state
Redruth had been at the heart of Cornwall’s central mining district in the 1700s. In the days of copper, it was surrounded by the riches of Gwennap to the east and the mines of Illogan to the west. As copper faded after the 1860s and the centre of Cornish metal mining shifted westwards towards Camborne’s … Continue reading Redruth: America’s 51st state
Rame: a forgotten corner of Cornwall?
Rame is tucked away in the far south-east of Cornwall. Sometimes dubbed Cornwall’s forgotten corner, the district is possibly one of the least familiar in Cornwall to most residents, even those who might pride themselves on their knowledge of Cornwall. Despite its proximity to the busy city of Plymouth across the Tamar estuary, Rame has … Continue reading Rame: a forgotten corner of Cornwall?
Quethiock – the importance of the family context
We have seen in these blogs that many people left Cornwall in the nineteenth century. By now, all but the most casual reader will be aware that those from mining families were more likely to leave. But not everyone did. So why did some emigrate and others didn’t? Let’s look at an example from Quethiock, … Continue reading Quethiock – the importance of the family context
Probus School: Educating the Cornish (male) middle classes
We’re told that the British Empire was won on the playing fields of Eton and similar institutions. It’s true that the English aristocracy were, by the late Victorian period, being educated generally for governing and more specifically for the imperial mission. Those not involved in running the home country would carve out colonies, subdue the … Continue reading Probus School: Educating the Cornish (male) middle classes
Poundstock: the mysterious case of the missing parish
A multitude of apologies to the thousands of readers of this blog from north Cornwall. Somehow this piece on the coastal parish of Poundstock south of Bude went missing. But rest assured; it’s not been lost and here it is only two days late. Domesday Book in 1080 recorded five families who were working land … Continue reading Poundstock: the mysterious case of the missing parish
Probus: from one side of the world to the other (and back)
Even in rural parishes Cornish participation in the emigration flows from Europe to the New World was a constant background presence. It had a stark day-to-day reality in mining parishes by the mid-1800s but also could scarcely be ignored in non-mining parishes such as Probus, to the east of Truro. Golden Manor in 1872 Take … Continue reading Probus: from one side of the world to the other (and back)
Some people of Poughill (that’s Poffill)
Poughill is located in north Cornwall. Nowadays, it’s often overlooked, merely a part of Bude-Stratton civil parish and waiting with trepidation for the inevitable time it will be overwhelmed by the housing sprawl oozing out from the precocious resort town of Bude. But in the 1800s it was a proudly independent ecclesiastical parish of its … Continue reading Some people of Poughill (that’s Poffill)
Pillaton and steam power
The railway was the Victorians’ internet, speeding up communications, formerly dependent on horses and sail, and bringing in its wake the telegraph and global communications. But the railway also acted as a route out of a life of farm labouring for Victorian men, offering new, sometimes better paid but certainly more secure job opportunities. A … Continue reading Pillaton and steam power
Cornish studies resources 