With the recent success of the Cornish film Bait, it’s an appropriate time to remember an unwarrantably obscure Cornishman. Henry Lovell Goldsworthy Gurney was born on February 14th, 1793 at Padstow and died at Bude as Sir Goldsworthy Gurney on February 28th, 1875. Gurney’s connection with the dramatic arts is via his improvement of stage … Continue reading Goldsworthy Gurney, the inventor of limelight
Some Cornish surnames with single points of origin
My next three less common Cornish surnames all have obvious points of origin although in the case of the first this may be a district rather than a single parish. Pawlyn is a pet form of Paul, retaining the conservative spelling of Pawl which was usual in the early 1500s. At that time people called … Continue reading Some Cornish surnames with single points of origin
Cornwall’s literary and philosophical societies
Currently, Cornwall’s largest museum, the Royal Cornwall Museum at Truro, is temporarily closed to the public. This is the result of ‘continued reduction in grants and consistently low visitor numbers’. The museum’s origins date back more than 200 years. On the 5th February 1818 a number of gentlemen met together at Truro Library. From that … Continue reading Cornwall’s literary and philosophical societies
An eighteenth-century Cornish strongman
In 1758 the Universal Magazine published an account from William Borlase which related the ‘manners of the inhabitants of Cornwall’. Among several far-fetched stories it included the following as an example of the strength of Cornish people … A Cornish wain On Tuesday March 22,1757, John Chilew [normally spelt Chellew] of the parish of Ludgvan, … Continue reading An eighteenth-century Cornish strongman
Three more rare Cornish surnames, although one was from Devon
Olivey is claimed to have come from the Latin saint Oliva, although it’s just as possible it was a variant of the name Oliver, from an old French first name. Oliver was quite common in sixteenth century Cornwall but I can find no Oliveys that early. The spelling Olivey first appeared on the Lizard and … Continue reading Three more rare Cornish surnames, although one was from Devon
Richard Lander: Cornwall’s own superhero
On this day in 1834 Richard Lander died on the island then known to Europeans as Fernando Po and now called Bioko, off the coast of Cameroon. Lander had gained fame as an explorer in the 1830s, his accounts of his west African adventures appealing to the public appetite for stories of gripping derring-do. In … Continue reading Richard Lander: Cornwall’s own superhero
Carn Brea: sentiment and settlement
Like the Tamar Bridge, or the clay tips of mid-Cornwall, Carn Brea is one those iconic Cornish landmarks. It’s a reminder of home, an unmistakable landscape element standing sentinel over Cornwall’s central mining district. It was that location, at the heart of the most populous and dynamic district of Cornwall in the late 1700s and … Continue reading Carn Brea: sentiment and settlement
Local Cornish surnames, but which locality?
All three of the following surnames were originally derived from placenames, although the exact location of that name is open to a little doubt. Nancollas is a surname which has a long association with St Austell. John Nancolas was found in that parish in 1543. But there is nowhere called Nancollas in Cornwall. One possible … Continue reading Local Cornish surnames, but which locality?
Cholera in Cornwall: the Victorians’ coronavirus
Not strictly Victorian perhaps, as it preceded Victoria’s reign by five years. As if the endemic typhoid, typhus and dysentery, not to mention the measles, mumps and whooping cough that every year cut a swathe through thousands of infants, were not enough, in 1832 cholera arrived in Cornwall. Outbreaks periodically panicked local authorities into the … Continue reading Cholera in Cornwall: the Victorians’ coronavirus
Who was Bishop Colenso?
Christian missionaries don’t get such a good press these days, often viewed as merely an arm of western colonialism, accompanying the trader and the soldier. But some missionaries broke the mould. One was John Colenso, born at St Austell on January 24th, 1814. The Colensos were actually a Penzance family. John’s father was a mine … Continue reading Who was Bishop Colenso?
Cornish studies resources 