The Old French first name Henri, from the Germanic Heinric, was introduced to the British Isles following 1066. This, together with its close relation, the Norman-French Hanri, became Middle English Henry. But in the cottages and communities of the common folk, this name usually became Harry. Harry, like other first names, was then appropriated as … Continue reading 7. Harris
Tag: Harris
St Keyne: farm labouring, shoemaking and gender relations
St Keyne is a small, easily overlooked parish in the south east Cornish countryside. In the 1800s its economy was almost entirely dominated by its farms. Farmers, their sons and farm labourers made up fully 92 per cent of the working male population in 1861. St Keyne Well, made famous by Robert Southey's poem of … Continue reading St Keyne: farm labouring, shoemaking and gender relations
St Austell: the good old days
Not everyone in St Austell was fortunate enough to be born into the right family, as was John Lovering, who we met in the previous blog. Even these days, a century and a half on, if we don’t have a house or houses to sell or a fat pension to pay for an expensive care … Continue reading St Austell: the good old days
Padstow: saints but no sinners
Some have argued that Christianity first arrived in Cornwall in Roman times from Ireland (others prefer Gaul or the south east of Britain). Several ‘saints’ later venerated in Cornwall had connections with Ireland. One was Petroc, who was supposed to have studied in Ireland and who gave his name to Petrocstow, also known in Cornish … Continue reading Padstow: saints but no sinners
Landewednack: one life and three teenage deaths
The good news is that the missing Victorian Lives database cases have now been re-researched and restored and we can return to the 12 missing parishes. (For anyone who has no clue what I’m on about see here.) The bad news is that I now have to think of more ways to inject an element … Continue reading Landewednack: one life and three teenage deaths
Patronyms and the Cornish language
Does the presence of patronymic surnames (surnames derived from first names) tell us anything about the last days of the traditional Cornish language? I have argued elsewhere that the distribution of the most common surnames in nineteenth century Cornwall – Williams, Thomas and Richards – offers a good indication of the geography of the language … Continue reading Patronyms and the Cornish language
Cornish studies resources 