The lost kings of Cornwall

One of the genealogies of the kings of Glamorgan includes a line of kings assumed to be Cornish/Dumnonian because of the inclusion in it of Custennin (Constantine) and Gereint (Gerent). We know that Constantine was a king in the south west of Britain around 530. We also know that Gerent was described as the ruler … Continue reading The lost kings of Cornwall →

Launceston data trigger dilemma

I have to admit to being somewhat perplexed by the migration pattern of the generation of 1850 in the Launceston Registration District (RD) as revealed in my Victorian lives project. In this largely agricultural and rural RD adjacent to the border with Devon one might expect more short-distance migration across that border and a lower … Continue reading Launceston data trigger dilemma →

State of the Cornish nation: jobs

What are the most common jobs for people in Cornwall? First, let’s dispatch a couple of myths. Those icons of Cornwall, the miner and the fisherman, together with the invisible member of the traditional triptych - the farmer and farm labourer - may have accounted for most male jobs in the 19th century. But no … Continue reading State of the Cornish nation: jobs →

Cautious conclusions from Camelford

As members of homo sapiens (purportedly), we like to impose patterns on the world around us. Often, however, the information available mean that those patterns exist in our minds rather than in the world around us. So it could be with the pattern of migration from the Camelford Registration District (RD) in the later nineteenth … Continue reading Cautious conclusions from Camelford →

Who was St Piran?

Degol S.Peran da tha whye oll. You can find a brief account of the modern association of St Piran with Cornwall here and an introduction to the placenames associated with the saint here. Let’s add a few more details from the Life of St Piran. Written in the 1200s, 700 years after he was supposed … Continue reading Who was St Piran? →

Sojourners from Stratton

Stratton Registration District (RD) in the far north of Cornwall was the smallest in 19th century Cornwall in terms of population. This was because it had one of the lowest population densities of the 13 Cornish RDs. Yet, the proportion of the Cornish Lives sample born in this primarily rural and agricultural RD was probably … Continue reading Sojourners from Stratton →

Dumnonia: Region? Kingdom? Or at times both?

In the new edition of Cornwall’s First Golden Age the most extensive changes occur when discussing the earliest period – the fifth and sixth centuries. The original chapter 2, with some material from later chapters and new content, has been restructured into three separate chapters focusing in turn on Tintagel, Dumnonia and the issue of … Continue reading Dumnonia: Region? Kingdom? Or at times both? →

Where did they go? The Cornish generation of 1850

Back in the mists of time – around 20 years ago – I began a long-term research project aiming to study the migration patterns of a single Cornish generation at a detailed individual level. It was based on a systematic sample of all children born in Cornwall in 1850 and still alive in 1861. The … Continue reading Where did they go? The Cornish generation of 1850 →

Cornwall’s First Golden Age – new edition out now

A new edition of Cornwall's First Golden Age - the critical synthesis of the history of Cornwall in its period of independence and initial colonisation from the 400s to the 1100s - is now available, back by overwhelming public demand (or at least a handful of requests). Revised, considerably restructured and updated to include the … Continue reading Cornwall’s First Golden Age – new edition out now →

Population growth and gentrification, marine tourism and a 15th century social climber

Here's the final set of brief summaries providing links to recent reviews of academic literature on Cornwall. You're now (almost) up to speed. In an important article on contemporary Cornwall Joanie Willett shows how population growth and gentrification have failed to solve Cornwall's endemic socio-economic difficulties while exacerbating a growing housing crisis and fragmenting local … Continue reading Population growth and gentrification, marine tourism and a 15th century social climber →