Bernard Deacon's Blog, page 16

St Ervan: farriers, farming and traffic

The two neighbouring farming parishes of St Ervan and St Eval north of St Columb managed to avoid the trouble and turmoil that periodically scorched through Cornish rural parishes dependent on mining. Nonetheless, their populations slowly drifted downwards in the 1800s, the exodus gaining force in the final decades of the century as farmers reduced … Continue reading St Ervan: farriers, farming and traffic →

St Erth: two emigrants to Australia

St Erth was a parish that in the 1800s included part of the industrial town of Hayle. Near the northern limits of the parish could be found Hayle Foundry, Cornwall’s biggest engineering foundry in the 1800s. By the middle of the nineteenth century around one in seven of St Erth’s men were foundry workers or … Continue reading St Erth: two emigrants to Australia →

St Erme: two-stage migration

Now hosting one of Truro’s commuter villages, St Erme was a rural parish in the 1800s. Although a mainly farming parish it provides us with a classic example of two-stage migration. This involved moving first to an industrial region of northern England or Wales before then departing overseas. The process of two-stage, or indirect, emigration … Continue reading St Erme: two-stage migration →

St Enoder: engines and hospitals

St Enoder can justly claim to be at the centre of Cornish life, situated as it is midway between north and south coasts on the one hand and Lands End and the Tamar on the other. In 1861 its occupational structure was also fairly typical of rural Cornwall. Around half of the households in the … Continue reading St Enoder: engines and hospitals →

St Dominick: two Georges, farmer and coal miner

Over the previous century or so four Georges had occupied the British throne. In St Dominick, a parish on the banks of the River Tamar in south-east Cornwall, two Georges were born around 1850. Although born within a couple miles of each other, they had very different life histories. The first, George Hugh Snell, was … Continue reading St Dominick: two Georges, farmer and coal miner →

St Dennis: occupational change and a family mystery

St Dennis in mid-Cornwall was a parish undergoing major economic change in the Victorian era. In the early 1800s it was an upland parish where the locals survived from farming its unproductive soils, supplemented by tin streaming. However, the search for china clay transformed the fortunes of the parish and the occupations of its people. … Continue reading St Dennis: occupational change and a family mystery →

St Columb Minor: full circle at Newquay

Newquay, in the parish of St Columb Minor, is now one of Cornwall’s largest towns. With its surfing and music festivals, reputation for drunken partying and crowds of tourists, it’s not the most obviously ‘Cornish’ place in Cornwall. Mediterranean-style seafront developments and massive housing projects, with a lot more to come, that steadily encroach on … Continue reading St Columb Minor: full circle at Newquay →

St Columb Major: somewhat off the beaten track

In earlier times St Columb in mid-Cornwall was located on one of the main east-west routes across Cornwall. But by the nineteenth century travellers were no longer avoiding a bleak journey and skirting around Bodmin Moor. In consequence, travellers on the main road no longer needed to pass through the small town of St Columb, … Continue reading St Columb Major: somewhat off the beaten track →

St Clether: cattle and cottages

Farmers in the parish of St Clether, north of Bodmin Moor, must have struggled at times. Living in an upland area with some of the highest rainfall in Cornwall and dealing with the heavy, acidic clay and loam soils of the district was not the easiest task. However, because the soils of St Clether did … Continue reading St Clether: cattle and cottages →

St Clement: cards and candles

Most of the inhabitants of St Clement in the mid-nineteenth century were actually living in Truro, the houses of which were expanding into the neighbouring parishes of St Clement to the east and Kenwyn to the north and west. As befits a largely urban parish, St Clement was home to a diversity of crafts and … Continue reading St Clement: cards and candles →