The majority of men in Victorian Cornwall probably followed the same occupations as did their fathers. Moreover, the majority of those tended to stay in that occupation for the rest of their lives. However, the exact proportions may well have varied from place to place and from one occupation to the next. When complete, the … Continue reading St Levan: exceptions in the far west
Category: social history
St Keyne: farm labouring, shoemaking and gender relations
St Keyne is a small, easily overlooked parish in the south east Cornish countryside. In the 1800s its economy was almost entirely dominated by its farms. Farmers, their sons and farm labourers made up fully 92 per cent of the working male population in 1861. St Keyne Well, made famous by Robert Southey's poem of … Continue reading St Keyne: farm labouring, shoemaking and gender relations
St Kew: a meandering monk
In the late sixth century the wandering monk Samson, arriving from Wales, visited a monastery at Landocco, thought to be sited in St Kew parish to the north of the Camel estuary. The abbot at Landocco was none too pleased to receive his eminent but unexpected visitor. He told Samson he was ‘better than us, … Continue reading St Kew: a meandering monk
St Keverne: from rebellion to respectability
In the late 1400s and early 1500s the parish of St Keverne on the Lizard peninsula was at the heart of Cornwall’s several ‘commotions’. Men and women from the parish enthusiastically rose in revolt against the taxation of Henry VII in 1497 – not once but twice. They were closely involved in the explosion of … Continue reading St Keverne: from rebellion to respectability
St Just in Roseland: learning the ropes
Cornwall’s other St Just, on the Roseland peninsula, could not be much more of a contrast with the first. No mines disfigured the verdant landscape of St Just in Roseland, no miners stanked through its lanes on their way to early core. No sounds of industry drowned out the birdsong. Moreover, while Penwith’s St Just … Continue reading St Just in Roseland: learning the ropes
St Just in Penwith: next stop, America
St Just can be found on the westernmost edge of the Cornish peninsula jutting into the Atlantic. In the 1800s it was sometimes said that the next parish to its west was America. This wasn’t just whimsy as St Just in the nineteenth century was anything but a remote, out of the way place. It … Continue reading St Just in Penwith: next stop, America
St Juliot: hardy young men
Emma Gifford in 1865 In 1870 a 30-year old assistant architect working for a Weymouth-based firm was sent to Cornwall. His task was to assess the state of the ‘seriously dilapidated’ St Juliot church overlooking the picturesque Valency valley in north Cornwall prior to planning its restoration. While working on the project over the next … Continue reading St Juliot: hardy young men
St John: from hand sewing to machine sewing
One of Cornwall’s smaller parishes, St John is found nestled on the coast in south east Cornwall. While around half of the households in the parish in 1861 were headed by farmers or farm labourers the local economy was relatively dispersed. As in the neighbouring parish of Sheviock, there were some navvies probably working on … Continue reading St John: from hand sewing to machine sewing
St Ives: Downalong and upalong
In many ways St Ives has been the exemplar for the currents of change swirling around Cornwall and its communities since the early 1700s. In 1743 it hosted (although not without opposition) some of John Wesley’s first preachings in Cornwall and the beginning of his mission, one that would reinvigorate the popular culture of the … Continue reading St Ives: Downalong and upalong
St Issey: going up in the world
The quickest though not the easiest guarantee of a life of ease and comfort, free from financial worries, is still to be born rich. Nonetheless, education offers a theoretical route to social mobility. This wasn’t an option for the great majority of children in the Victorian Lives database. For them rudimentary learning went little further … Continue reading St Issey: going up in the world
Cornish studies resources 