Browsing through A.L.Rowse’s The Little Land of Cornwall the other day, I revisited his account of Samuel Johnson’s skit of the late 1770s when Johnson was arguing the case against American independence. Dr Johnson was attempting to show up the absurdity of the American claims by supposing the rage for independence had spread to Cornwall … Continue reading The Cornish declaration of independence
Cornish surnames in the 17th century
For some obscure reason the most visited page on this website has consistently been 18th century surnames by parish. To accompany this I've spent the Christmas period compiling a list of surnames for each parish in the mid-17th century and this can now be consulted here. In 1642 across Cornwall over half of men (57%) … Continue reading Cornish surnames in the 17th century
Christmas in west Cornwall in 1920
What was Christmas like around a hundred years ago? Let’s look at the Cornishman newspaper in 1920 for a few clues. Overall, it was generally quiet. At Penzance it was reported as ‘celebrated somewhat quietly’ while over at Helston it also ‘passed off very quietly’. We might have expected that people would have been celebrating … Continue reading Christmas in west Cornwall in 1920
David Penhaligon
On the morning of December 22nd, 1986, Cornwall’s best-known politician of the late twentieth century, David Penhaligon, was killed in a car crash. The death of Penhaligon, 42 years old and Liberal MP for Truro since 1974, came as a huge shock. Penhaligon was the son of a caravan park owner in Truro. Educated at … Continue reading David Penhaligon
Cornish names before the conquest
Before hereditary surnames there were second names that changed from one generation to the next. Before that, people just had one name. This was the case for most in Cornwall before the mid-1300s. Go back another 200 years to before the arrival of the Normans and we meet the names chosen by Cornish-speaking natives. Into … Continue reading Cornish names before the conquest
What was a Cornish engine?
The Cornish engine was so named because it was a type of steam engine developed by Cornish engineers and enginemen and mainly used in Cornwall. From 1810 the efficiency of beam engines was steadily improved. These were used to pump the water out of mines. They also, somewhat later, raised ore and lowered materials (whim … Continue reading What was a Cornish engine?
Surnames from first names
Many surnames originally stemmed form first names. In Cornwall Bennet or Benet was a frequent male name in the medieval period. It came orginally from the saint's name Benedict, shortened to Benoit by the French and introduced to the British Isles by the Normans. The name was widely found as a surname in Cornwall by … Continue reading Surnames from first names
Mary Bryant’s story
In the later 1700s, if you were convicted of a serious, or even not very serious, crime, you could face transportation to a British colony, that is if you managed to avoid the death sentence. Before 1777 convicts were taken to North America. After that point this option became unavailable. But there was an alternative … Continue reading Mary Bryant’s story
Three Cornish surnames from nicknames
Why exactly would someone in the 13th or 14th centuries be given a nickname from a type of fish? Yet this is one of the possible explanations provided for the origin of Basset, from bass. Possibly more credible is a derivation from Middle English or Old French bass, meaning low, short or humble. The name … Continue reading Three Cornish surnames from nicknames
Cornwall: England’s last refuge?
These days, it seems you can’t scan the TV schedules without being confronted by programmes set in Cornwall. Just this week we have ‘Rick Stein’s Cornish Christmas’ on BBC. On Channel 4 there’s ‘Newquay: 24/7 party people’, while Channel 5 is showing ‘Cornwall’s most scenic railway journeys’. ‘Cornwall Air 999’ can be found on Really, … Continue reading Cornwall: England’s last refuge?
Cornish studies resources 