Category: social history

Helland and the pull of Devon

The name Helland is, despite its appearance, thoroughly Cornish, from hen lan, meaning old or ancient holy site. The parish, tucked between Bodmin to the south and Bodmin Moor to the east, was one of Cornwall’s smallest in terms of population. In 1861 there were no miners at all there and four out of five … Continue reading Helland and the pull of Devon →

Overcrowding at Gwithian

In the mid-1800s Gwithian, on the eastern shore of St Ives Bay, was a quiet backwater, before dynamite works made it rather noisier for a short time from the 1880s. The expanse of bleak towans bordering the sea was home to wildlife not people, while seals basked undisturbed in the coves near Godrevy Point. It … Continue reading Overcrowding at Gwithian →

Gwinear: the American connection

Although there were no major mines within its borders Gwinear was another Cornish rural parish whose people depended heavily on the health of local mining. Seven out of every ten adult men in 1861 worked in and on the mines, as did half of the women with paid employment. As in other rural industrial parishes, … Continue reading Gwinear: the American connection →

Gwennap: long-distance relationships

The previous blog raises the question of how many of the children of Cornwall’s mining districts in 1861 lived in households with no male head, their fathers either away working or dead at a young age. Of the 107 Gwennap children in the database who were living with parents or other relatives, over a third, … Continue reading Gwennap: long-distance relationships →

Gwennap: family size and fleeting fathers

In 1861 Edwin Triniman was living in Wheal Jewell Row near St Day in Gwennap with his parents and five siblings. His father, aged 51, was a miner as were two older brothers, while an older sister was employed at a rope works. Edwin wasn’t at the mine, but he was working as a farm … Continue reading Gwennap: family size and fleeting fathers →

Gwennap: from riches to ruins

Mary Ann Kneebone was the daughter of John Kneebone, a mine engineman in 1861, and his wife Mary. They lived in the small hamlet of Trevarth in Gwennap, at that time one of Cornwall’s most populous parishes, home to over 10,500 people. Ten years earlier, John had been tin mining in Crowan a few miles … Continue reading Gwennap: from riches to ruins →

Gunwalloe: a church by the sea

In Gunwalloe on the Lizard the parish church is unusually close to the beach. The proximity of the sea hints at an overseas origin for the church’s patron, St Winwaloe. And so it was. Winwaloe was supposed to have been born in Brittany, where he founded the important abbey of Landevennec opposite Brest. The church … Continue reading Gunwalloe: a church by the sea →

Gulval: growing and going

Gulval parish stretches from the fertile low-lying coastal plain east of Penzance and up onto the moors of west Penwith, a veritable archaeological treasure house. With the arrival of railway connections to the huge market of London and the south east of England by the 1860s, the potential of this district and its mild climate … Continue reading Gulval: growing and going →

Grampound: coming full circle

Grampound, known in 1302 in French as Grauntpount and in Cornish as Ponsmur, was named after its large bridge over the River Fal. The small settlement that grew up at the crossing point was made a borough in the 1300s but never grew substantially beyond one main street until the twentieth century. Grampound’s relative decline … Continue reading Grampound: coming full circle →

Grade: the cycle of life – in and out of farming

The parish of Grade on the Lizard peninsula is now combined with its equally small neighbours of Ruan Major and Ruan Minor. In Victorian times however, it still glorified in its independence. The 327 souls in the parish in 1861 got their living principally from farming. As many as 48, or two thirds, of the … Continue reading Grade: the cycle of life – in and out of farming →