Tag: migration

Quiet times at Blisland

In Victorian times Blisland, on the western slopes of Bodmin Moor, resembled its neighbour Altarnun - lightly peopled, rural, an upland parish of hamlets and farms. Even more so than Altarnun, the people in the Blisland database did not stray too far. Not one of the six traced to 1891 had left Cornwall. In fact, … Continue reading Quiet times at Blisland →

The maritime connection

Antony was a small, remote rural parish in the far south eastern corner of Cornwall before the 1780s. But in that decade the town of Torpoint began to spring up on land owned by the Carews, the local landowners based at Antony House. Begun as a speculative venture to house workers needed for the naval … Continue reading The maritime connection →

Heading for the bright lights

In the 1800s in the British Isles there was a general drift from the countryside to the towns. We can see this process at work even in remote parishes such as Altarnun in east Cornwall. Altarnun has the distinction of being Cornwall’s largest parish. It includes farms, hamlets and villages scattered below the northern and … Continue reading Heading for the bright lights →

Hard times at Advent

The name Advent has nothing to do with the period before Christmas, the parish in north Cornwall being named after St Adweny. By the 1500s it was known as Adwen or Adven and then Advent. One of Cornwall’s smaller parishes in terms of population, although not extent, Advent was a place of scattered farms and … Continue reading Hard times at Advent →

Visiting the Victorians: nineteenth-century Cornish life-cycles

In the 1800s why did some of our ancestors decide to leave for overseas and others go to places in the British Isles? Why did some stay put? How much was movement determined by factors such as occupation, gender, place of birth or upbringing? (For an overall summary of Cornish migration see the article below.) … Continue reading Visiting the Victorians: nineteenth-century Cornish life-cycles →

Cornish surnames and long-distance migration

As we have seen before, surnames that originate in placenames can give us useful clues about the migration of people in the past. Contrary to popular myth, even in the medieval period there was considerable movement within the British Isles. In Cornwall, there are several surnames that are based on places to the east of … Continue reading Cornish surnames and long-distance migration →

Economic migrants from Brittany in early 16th century Cornwall

The lay subsidies of the early 1500s are lists of taxpayers. In the published versions (1524-25 and 1543-44) we find entries such as John Breton, at Truro in 1525. John was also classed as an ‘alien’. These entries therefore provide us with a valuable insight into the presence of Bretons in the Cornwall of the … Continue reading Economic migrants from Brittany in early 16th century Cornwall →

Surname turnover in 17th century Cornwall

Cornish surnames such as Chesterfield, Oxnam or Sturtridge hail originally from places well outside Cornwall. Their presence, sometimes for centuries, indicates that the horizons of people in the past were not confined entirely to their own small patch. Unlike the common misconception, this was a society on the move, although not usually the distances implied … Continue reading Surname turnover in 17th century Cornwall →

A miner on the move

In 1862 a Parliamentary enquiry into the condition of metal miners interviewed several miners in Cornwall. Their life histories provide a fascinating insight into their moves from mine to mine. They indicate that miners moved frequently. One of the most extreme examples was an anonymous miner at St Cleer. Aged 36 in 1862, he had … Continue reading A miner on the move →