Bernard Deacon's Blog, page 57

Resisting the workhouse: poor relief in nineteenth-century Cornwall

On 17th February 1837 a riot occurred at Camelford in north Cornwall. There were also reports of disturbances at Stratton, further north. These events were caused by the establishment in that year of Poor Law Unions, following the implementation of the New Poor Law of 1834. This reform transferred responsibility for poor relief from the … Continue reading Resisting the workhouse: poor relief in nineteenth-century Cornwall

Goldsworthy Gurney, the inventor of limelight

With the recent success of the Cornish film Bait, it’s an appropriate time to remember an unwarrantably obscure Cornishman. Henry Lovell Goldsworthy Gurney was born on February 14th, 1793 at Padstow and died at Bude as Sir Goldsworthy Gurney on February 28th, 1875. Gurney’s connection with the dramatic arts is via his improvement of stage … Continue reading Goldsworthy Gurney, the inventor oflimelight

Some Cornish surnames with single points of origin

My next three less common Cornish surnames all have obvious points of origin although in the case of the first this may be a district rather than a single parish. Pawlyn is a pet form of Paul, retaining the conservative spelling of Pawl which was usual in the early 1500s. At that time people called …

Cornwall’s literary and philosophical societies

Currently, Cornwall’s largest museum, the Royal Cornwall Museum at Truro, is temporarily closed to the public. This is the result of ‘continued reduction in grants and consistently low visitor numbers’. The museum’s origins date back more than 200 years. On the 5th February 1818 a number of gentlemen met together at Truro Library. From that … Continue reading Cornwall’s literary and philosophicalsocieties

An eighteenth-century Cornish strongman

In 1758 the Universal Magazine published an account from William Borlase which related the ‘manners of the inhabitants of Cornwall’. Among several far-fetched stories it included the following as an example of the strength of Cornish people … On Tuesday March 22,1757, John Chilew [normally spelt Chellew] of the parish of Ludgvan, carrier, aged 41 … Continue reading An eighteenth-century Cornishstrongman

Three more rare Cornish surnames, although one was from Devon

Olivey is claimed to have come from the Latin saint Oliva, although it’s just as possible it was a variant of the name Oliver, from an old French first name. Oliver was quite common in sixteenth century Cornwall but I can find no Oliveys that early. The spelling Olivey first appeared on the Lizard and …

Richard Lander: Cornwall’s own superhero

On this day in 1834 Richard Lander died on the island then known to Europeans as Fernando Po and now called Bioko, off the coast of Cameroon. Lander had gained fame as an explorer in the 1830s, his accounts of his west African adventures appealing to the public appetite for stories of gripping derring-do. In … Continue reading Richard Lander: Cornwall’s ownsuperhero

Carn Brea: sentiment and settlement

Like the Tamar Bridge, or the clay tips of mid-Cornwall, Carn Brea is one those iconic Cornish landmarks. It’s a reminder of home, an unmistakable landscape element standing sentinel over Cornwall’s central mining district. It was that location, at the heart of the most populous and dynamic district of Cornwall in the late 1700s and … Continue reading Carn Brea: sentiment andsettlement

Local Cornish surnames, but which locality?

All three of the following surnames were originally derived from placenames, although the exact location of that name is open to a little doubt. Nancollas is a surname which has a long association with St Austell. John Nancolas was found in that parish in 1543. But there is nowhere called Nancollas in Cornwall. One possible …

Cholera in Cornwall: the Victorians’ coronavirus

Not strictly Victorian perhaps, as it preceded Victoria’s reign by five years. As if the endemic typhoid, typhus and dysentery, not to mention the measles, mumps and whooping cough that every year cut a swathe through thousands of infants, were not enough, in 1832 cholera arrived in Cornwall. Outbreaks periodically panicked local authorities into the … Continue reading Cholera in Cornwall: the Victorians’coronavirus