Bernard Deacon's Blog, page 27

Marriage horizons on Scilly

In Cornwall in the Victorian period people tended to find their marriage partners within a six to ten mile radius, a distance largely unchanged since medieval times. But when most of that six to ten miles is water and the choice heavily skewed towards fish and seals, what did people do? What were the marriage … Continue reading Marriage horizons on Scilly →

Some short lives at Illogan

Not every Cornish miner died young. On the other hand not many lived to their allotted span of three score years and ten. The median age of miners in Illogan parish in 1861 was just 24. This means that half the miners were younger than 24 and the other half older. The Cornish mines workforce … Continue reading Some short lives at Illogan →

Portreath: Illogan’s industrial port

The parish of Illogan is in the heart of what was once called Cornwall’s Central Mining District, serving as a useful barrier between the towns of Camborne and Redruth. It is the location of South Crofty, the last working Cornish tin mine, which closed in the early 1990s. On the coast we find Portreath, formerly … Continue reading Portreath: Illogan’s industrial port →

Hallelujah! Helston praises the Lord

Religion played an inescapable part in the lives of the Cornish of the Victorian period. By modern standards attendance at church or, more usually, chapel was incredibly high, although contemporaries were appalled that only around a half of adults attended church in 1851 when there was a religious census. A wealth of social events were … Continue reading Hallelujah! Helston praises the Lord →

Helston: Salome and the dance of the five birthplaces

In Victorian times Cornwall’s market towns continued to attract people from the countryside even as some of their residents emigrated or left for bigger towns within the UK. We have seen how Falmouth’s migration hinterland spread across Cornwall west of Truro, particularly for women. But how did Helston, 13 miles to the west, compare? Just … Continue reading Helston: Salome and the dance of the five birthplaces →

Helland and the pull of Devon

The name Helland is, despite its appearance, thoroughly Cornish, from hen lan, meaning old or ancient holy site. The parish, tucked between Bodmin to the south and Bodmin Moor to the east, was one of Cornwall’s smallest in terms of population. In 1861 there were no miners at all there and four out of five … Continue reading Helland and the pull of Devon →

Overcrowding at Gwithian

In the mid-1800s Gwithian, on the eastern shore of St Ives Bay, was a quiet backwater, before dynamite works made it rather noisier for a short time from the 1880s. The expanse of bleak towans bordering the sea was home to wildlife not people, while seals basked undisturbed in the coves near Godrevy Point. It … Continue reading Overcrowding at Gwithian →

Gwinear: the American connection

Although there were no major mines within its borders Gwinear was another Cornish rural parish whose people depended heavily on the health of local mining. Seven out of every ten adult men in 1861 worked in and on the mines, as did half of the women with paid employment. As in other rural industrial parishes, … Continue reading Gwinear: the American connection →

Gwennap: long-distance relationships

The previous blog raises the question of how many of the children of Cornwall’s mining districts in 1861 lived in households with no male head, their fathers either away working or dead at a young age. Of the 107 Gwennap children in the database who were living with parents or other relatives, over a third, … Continue reading Gwennap: long-distance relationships →

Gwennap: family size and fleeting fathers

In 1861 Edwin Triniman was living in Wheal Jewell Row near St Day in Gwennap with his parents and five siblings. His father, aged 51, was a miner as were two older brothers, while an older sister was employed at a rope works. Edwin wasn’t at the mine, but he was working as a farm … Continue reading Gwennap: family size and fleeting fathers →