Merther was a small farming parish of fewer than 400 people in 1861; it’s just east of Truro and includes part of the village of Tresillian. However, none of the three Merther children of 1861 who made it into the Victorian Lives database came from a farming background. Instead, all three - two boys and … Continue reading All change for Merther’s craftsmen
Menheniot: gateway to the world
Menheniot, to the south-east of Liskeard in east Cornwall, was a boom and bust parish of the mid-Victorian period. The population soared by almost 60 per cent in the 1840s before peaking in the early 1860s. It then fell by over a half in the next 30 years. People were attracted to the parish by … Continue reading Menheniot: gateway to the world
Mawnan’s emigrants – triggering cultural transformation
Mawnan is now famed for the gardens that flourish on the south-facing slopes running down to the Helford estuary, places such as Glendurgan, Trebah and Carwinion. These were founded in the 1800s, often by various members of the Fox family from nearby Falmouth who built their country houses in this verdant parish blessed by mild … Continue reading Mawnan’s emigrants – triggering cultural transformation
Mawgan in Pydar: Lanherne, London and leaving the shores
Lanherne House The secluded and wooded Vale of Lanherne running inland from Mawgan Porth is peaceful these days. But it was a political flashpoint in the late sixteenth century, regarded as the hotbed of Cornish Catholicism. This was the base of the Arundell family which attempted, ultimately without success, to keep the flag of Catholicism … Continue reading Mawgan in Pydar: Lanherne, London and leaving the shores
Mawgan in Menage and some transoceanic Cornish
Mining parishes may have supplied the bulk of Cornish emigrants but a farming parish such as Mawgan on the gateway to the Lizard peninsula also had its share of emigrants. Moreover, movers from a non-mining background were often more likely to make the move as part of a family group and more likely to perceive … Continue reading Mawgan in Menage and some transoceanic Cornish
Launcells: crossing the border
One of the small bridges across the Tamar near Launcells now proudly bearing its Kernow sign Rivers can act as boundaries between culture areas. Or they can also bring people from either side of the river together. Launcells was a farming parish on the upper reaches of the River Tamar bordering Devon. The Tamar was … Continue reading Launcells: crossing the border
Polruan – a village of seafarers
The village of Polruan in Lanteglos by Fowey could in the 1800s lay claim to possessing the greatest collective knowledge of seafaring of any place in Cornwall, in relation to its size. Polruan’s association with the sea was a longstanding one, having sent a ship and 60 men to join the siege of Calais in … Continue reading Polruan – a village of seafarers
Lanteglos by Camelford: making watches and watching the road
Camelford in the 1860s had not grown appreciably since the town was founded in the thirteenth century. Despite having two Members of Parliament before 1832, in the main its houses still fronted one long street and its population numbered hundreds rather than thousands. Nonetheless, Camelford resembled a town rather than a village in the variety … Continue reading Lanteglos by Camelford: making watches and watching the road
An upper-class life
The parish of Lanteglos by Camelford offers a rare opportunity for us to peer into the life of a family from the landowning class, the small minority who were able to live off rents, dividends and the surplus created by the majority. Bosahan in 1950. Were the Leys renting this house a century earlier? Johanna … Continue reading An upper-class life
Polperro: not just although mainly about the fishing
Lansallos parish contains part of the coastal village of Polperro (shared with the neighbouring parish of Talland). Now the epitome of a ‘quaint’ and picturesque Cornish village, Polperro in the 1800s was a self-contained and busy working village, its people earning their living mainly from fishing. Jonathan Couch with one of his fish Self-contained but … Continue reading Polperro: not just although mainly about the fishing
Cornish studies resources 