JULIA MOSMAN DESCRIBES A GENEALOGY INITIATIVE THAT WE HOPE WILL SPREAD Cornish Online Parish Clerks

CORNWALL, ON THE extreme south- combined with inexpensive or even western tip of Great Britain, is a land free transportation, is it any wonder of mineral-rich ores and once-rich more than half the population — a fishing grounds. On two sides it is much higher percentage than even bordered by ocean; on the third, by the Irish — chose to leave the land ARE YOU CORNISH? Devon. Her people have been miners they loved? If your name starts with since the Phoenicians visited the Fortunately for the miners, their Tre-, Pen-, or Pol- ,you British Isles to trade for tin; they have skills were in demand elsewhere. probably have Cornish been miners, farmers, anglers and Cornish miners (and those in related roots. Celtic names such a sea-going adventurers. trades) spread throughout the world. Polkinghorne, Polprase, Separated from the rest of Mexico, South America, Australia, , Trethewey, England by the and their New Zealand, South Africa and Tregwin and Trelawney Celtic traditions, remained Canada, as well as the US, needed originated in Cornwall. a unique entity through much of its their expertise. Large Cornish However, those with history. Many place names retain the colonies thrived in Wisconsin and the “English” names — Allen, distinct in their Upper Peninsula of Michigan, as well Thomas, Stephens — have spelling and pronunciation: Ruan as Nevada and California. Many deep roots there, too. Lanihorne, Treweek, Perranzabuloe, more went to mines in Pennsylvania. Many people do not to name a few. Wherever they went, they took a spe- realize Cornish folk moved Cornwall was once prosperous. It cial love for Cornwall, which they to Wales, Ireland and had the largest and richest tin and often passed on to their descendants. northern England to work copper mines in the world. However, Many of these descendants are in various mines — when in the 1840s, Cornish tin mining col- now searching for information their descendants dig lapsed as cheap imports arrived from regarding their ancestors via the deeply, they find they are South America. In the 1860s, copper Internet. If you have Cornish connec- Cornish after all! mining collapsed too, leaving china- tions, you are fortunate when it clay as the last pillar of prosperity. comes to genealogy-rich websites. During this period, there were food There has been an explosion of such riots as precious grains were shipped websites over the past few years, to areas where higher prices were enabling many to follow their family paid, leaving Cornish folk to eat trees back generations. turnips, if they were available. People In 2000, three Cornishmen could not earn enough to buy bread; decided to form a volunteer group the average miner earned nine to help genealogical researchers shillings per week — mines were online. They formulated a plan closing everywhere — while people and recruited people already found themselves chasing jobs that active in Cornish genealogy. The were ever more elusive. Epidemics volunteers agreed to help, at no scourged the land, especially cholera cost, to preserve records and make in 1849, when 70 percent of the popu- them available online, if possible, lation of one village died within and to help educate people in the weeks. . The organiza- The remains of Between the epi- tion became known as Cornwall once-busy mines demics, lack of eco- Online Parish Clerks (OPC), as dot the landscape nomic opportuni- the volunteers hold of Cornwall. ties at home, and the lure of possible prosperity abroad,

www.internet-genealogy.com INTERNET Genealogy • June/July 2006 53 Cornwall Online Parish Clerks many of the same records www.cornwall-opc.org. PARISHES as parish clerks of yester- Here’s one basic way to approach British govern- Various OPCs are day. RootsWeb-award win- mental units: Counties equate to states in the US, involved with other efforts ning, the concept has now and parishes, some quite small, others large, act as to promote their goals; spread to eight other coun- counties do in the US. Parishes have been the gov- some are transcribing the ties in the UK. The other ernmental structure of choice for centuries. Even West Briton and Cornwall British OPC Projects are earlier, administration was based on “hundreds”. Advertiser newspaper, Cumberland/Westmorland It’s key to determine the relevant parish, as records including all births, mar- (www.cumberlandand were, and are, kept by that designation. Many riages and deaths and westmorland-opc.co.uk); parish records extend back to the English Civil War court cases, along with Devon (http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac of the 1640s, and some even go to 1558. There are interesting articles, from .uk/DEV/OPCproject.html), some 219 parishes in Cornwall, three-quarters of 1836 to 1887, on the Dorset (www.dorset-opc.com); which are served by an OPC; they also may be able Internet at http://freepages Kent (http://kent-opc.co.uk); to help with inquiries for those not included. .genealogy.rootsweb Lancashire (www.lan-opc .com/~wbritonad. others are .org.uk); Sussex transcribing the censuses: (www.sussex-opc.org); Warwickshire restricted or does not lend itself to 1841 and ‘91 are complete, while (www.hunimex.com/warwick websites. One OPC has a database 1851, ‘61, ‘71 and ‘81 are currently /opc/opc.html); and Wiltshire of more than 120,000 names, all being compiled. Part of the (http://homepage.ntlworld interconnected across parish FreeCENS effort, Cornwall Online .com/david.brown6666/wiltsopc/) boundaries, and holds regular Census Project has forged ahead Each volunteer adopts a spe- “Great Granny Hunts” at local of other counties in completion of cific parish (or more than one) and libraries. The Cornwall OPC proj- their work, which can be seen at decides what information is most ect has an agreement with both http://freepages.genealogy needed for that particular place, the Cornwall Record Office and .rootsweb.com/~kayhin/ukocp.html. turning to whatever sources they the Church of Latter-day Saints, All participate on the Cornish can. Currently, there are some 97 which have authorized transcrip- Lists at Rootsweb, www.rootsweb volunteers from all over the world tion of their records; more than .com. One list is for all things who have taken on three-quarters half of the OPCs are now engaged Cornish, the other strictly for of the parishes in Cornwall — and in that work. genealogy. Listers are very willing the number is growing. Some To find a list of parishes and to help researchers, too; after all, OPCs have established websites the associated OPC, together with the motto of Cornwall is “One and full of data. Others prefer to reply website links, a map of Cornwall, All”! to individual e-mail requests, as and a helpful list of resources and some of their material is copyright specialized databases, visit IG

The historic fishing village of Mevagissey on the southern coast of Cornwall.

54 INTERNET Genealogy • June/July 2006 www.internet-genealogy.com