The Latin name Johannes eventually gave us Jean in French and John in English. In medieval times Johns were often more familiarly known as Jan or Jen. This form then had -kin added to it to give the 16th century Jenkyn, Jankyn and similar. Before becoming a hereditary surname the suffix -kin was first used … Continue reading 17. Jenkin
18. Hocken/Hocking
Number 18 on our list of the most common surnames in 1861 Cornwall is Hocken, also spelt Hockin and Hocking. Several theories used to swirl around the origins of this name but the most likely is that it originally came from an old English name Hocca, the -in being added to make a pet name. … Continue reading 18. Hocken/Hocking
Cornwall’s top 20 surnames: 19. Hicks
The medieval first names introduced to the British Isles from France by the Normans spawned a bewildering number of variants. In the late medieval period, when the number of first names was shrinking, this had the advantage of helping to differentiate folk with the same second name. The name Richard was particularly prolific when it … Continue reading Cornwall’s top 20 surnames: 19. Hicks
Cornwall’s top 20 surnames: the countdown begins
What were the most common surnames in Cornwall in 1861? But first, why 1861? At this time – and indeed until the 1890s – in-migration into Cornwall from England was minimal, Cornwall having a higher proportion of locally born residents than any English county. Mass migration had set in during the late 1840s but the … Continue reading Cornwall’s top 20 surnames: the countdown begins
Coming soon: a new edition of The Surnames of Cornwall
This month I shall be publishing a new revised and extended edition of The Surnames of Cornwall which, as of today, will be temporarily unavailable online. For the first time, this book will also be available in hardback. The updated edition includes a further 100 surnames distinctive to Cornwall, bringing the total to around 850 … Continue reading Coming soon: a new edition of The Surnames of Cornwall
Penzance: end of the line
A wet day in Market Jew Street, Penzance, 1890 We have reached the final registration district (RD) in this tour of Cornwall’s nineteenth century districts and their migration patterns. Penzance was Cornwall’s most westerly RD but had a somewhat more diverse economic structure in the 1800s than its immediate neighbours. Although there were miners, particularly … Continue reading Penzance: end of the line
Camborne-Redruth: Cornwall’s Central Emigration District
The Redruth RD of the nineteenth century included within its bounds the central mining district. Named such because of its geographical centrality in the emerging eighteenth century industrial region of west Cornwall, the central mining district was also the most prolific producer of tin and copper ore from the early 1700s onwards. Fittingly, after the … Continue reading Camborne-Redruth: Cornwall’s Central Emigration District
Helston: quaint old Cornish town?
In the centuries before the 1600s Helston was one of the two most important market towns west of Truro, the other being Penryn. Falmouth and Penzance were not on the map until the 1500s while Camborne and Redruth were just small churchtowns indistinguishable from the scores of others scattered over the inhospitable and lightly populated … Continue reading Helston: quaint old Cornish town?
Falmouth: port and people
Falmouth was, and is, different, often cited as the atypical Cornish town. More than any other place in Cornwall, Falmouth’s horizons seem to look outwards rather than inwards. It emerged late, a new town of the seventeenth century nestling on the sheltered western side of the Fal estuary and quickly elbowing aside its older medieval … Continue reading Falmouth: port and people
Truro: Cornwall’s ‘county’ town
Truro is now Cornwall’s premier town, leading the way in the transformation of Cornwall into a ‘home county’ by the sea. Its residents might prefer to call it a city though, courtesy of the cathedral built there in the 1880s after an Anglican diocese was restored to Cornwall. A population of just under 19,000 in … Continue reading Truro: Cornwall’s ‘county’ town
Cornish studies resources 