Bernard Deacon's Blog, page 17

St Cleer: to stay or not to stay, that is the question

Whether to stay overseas or return to Cornwall was a question that many Cornish emigrants grappled with. Some seem to have found it very difficult to answer. St Cleer was a mining parish in east Cornwall on the southern flanks of Bodmin Moor. Life in the parish was revolutionised when its copper reserves began to … Continue reading St Cleer: to stay or not to stay, that is the question →

St Buryan: the drink trade

Drink was a central element of Victorian culture. The number of inns, public houses and beershops (called kiddleywinks or winks in parts of west Cornwall) was very much higher than now (although easy access to alcohol on the supermarket shelves was not an option). It was claimed in 1850 that the working class spent between … Continue reading St Buryan: the drink trade →

St Breward: lead and granite

The parish of St Breward encompassed a large chunk of the western side of Bodmin Moor. While the upland area was mainly populated by sheep the human population clustered in the settlements overlooking the river flowing south from Camelford. Now called the Camel for its whole length, at St Breward it was formerly known as … Continue reading St Breward: lead and granite →

St Breock: literacy and good fortune

The non-mining parish of St Breock in mid-Cornwall, which included the greater part of the small town of Wadebridge, was by Cornish standards relatively unusual in Victorian times. Nine of the 13 children of 1861 who survived until 1891 could still be found in mid-Cornwall, a very high proportion. Meanwhile, not one of the St … Continue reading St Breock: literacy and good fortune →

St Blazey and a patriotic Cornishman

Amelia Hancock (see previous blog) was described by the Daughters of the American Revolution as an ‘extremely patriotic and intelligent woman’. The patriotism they were referring to was to her adopted homeland. Another St Blazey child of 1861 provides more evidence for a strong sense of patriotism, but this time a Cornish patriotism. Sometimes it’s … Continue reading St Blazey and a patriotic Cornishman →

St Blazey’s millinery millionaire

In mid-Cornwall just east of St Austell, two out of every three families in the parish of St Blazey in 1851 were dependent on the mining industry for their daily bread. Unfortunately, the local mines, mainly exploiting copper reserves, were not best placed to weather the crisis that hit Cornwall’s copper mines in 1866. By … Continue reading St Blazey’s millinery millionaire →

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 →

St Austell’s clay merchants

In Victorian St Austell, one of Cornwall’s largest parishes in terms of area, a new industry was emerging, even as mining collapsed and farming faltered. The extraction of clay employed just five per cent of the men of the parish in 1851 but within a generation that proportion had ballooned to 22 per cent. While … Continue reading St Austell’s clay merchants →

St Anthony in Roseland: a deserted wife?

St Anthony in Meneage is found at the north-eastern extremity of the Lizard peninsula while, on the other side of the Fal estuary, St Anthony in Roseland forms the tip of the Roseland. However, both parishes were originally called Lanyntenyn, meaning the site of Entenen, a local saint. Over time, the Cornish saint was replaced … Continue reading St Anthony in Roseland: a deserted wife? →

St Anthony in Meneage: moving on and moving up

St Anthony in Meneage is a small parish on the Lizard peninsula. In Victorian times it was home to a farming community together with a mix of craftsmen and a sole coastguard boatman. The coastguard was William Johnson from Norfolk, married to Mary from Wicklow in Ireland. The couple’s eldest children had been born in … Continue reading St Anthony in Meneage: moving on and moving up →