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Polgooth (Cornish: Pollgoedh, meaning "Goose Pond") is a former mining village, It lies mainly in the parish of and partly in the parish of .

Antiquarians once claimed that the mines of Polgooth had supplied Phoenician traders with tin 3000 years ago, but in fact the earliest historical record is a list compiled in 1593, in which several well-established Polgooth workings were named. At that time and subsequently, the mines were owned by the Edgcumbe family

By the eighteenth century, Polgooth was celebrated as the "greatest tin mine in the world" and the richest mine in the . To pump water from the workings an early 50-inch Newcomen steam engine was erected in 1727 by Joseph Hornblower, superseded in 1784 by a 58-inch Boulton & and in 1823 (when John Taylor was manager) by an 80-inch William Sims engine. In 1822, Polgooth was the birthplace of geologist John Arthur Phillips

In the late eighteenth century shareholders or 'adventurers' in the mines included the engineers (who may have lived in Polgooth for a time) and , the industrialist John Wilkinson, local entrepreneur Charles Rashleigh (who built the port of Charlestown, from which much of the tin was shipped), landowner Lord Henry Arundell, and the potters Josiah and John Wedgwood. By 1800, over 1000 people were employed at Polgooth though, judging by a contemporary visitor, not in the most cheerful of conditions:

2 "The shafts are scattered over a considerable extent of sterile ground, whose dreary appearance, and the sallow countenances of the miners, concur to excite ideas of gloom, apprehension, and melancholy.

In the nineteenth century, disputes and periodic slumps in tin prices led to several cycles of closures and reopenings. In 1836, a new mine known as South Polgooth opened to the west of the village, producing not only tin, but copper, wolfram, arsenic, and zinc. However, falling prices meant that by 1894 mining at Polgooth came to an end, though some little work continued at South Polgooth till 1916 and the spoil heaps were picked over till 1929.

The village of Polgooth grew up amongst the mines. In 1824, a travel guide noted that "The whole surface of the country in this vicinity, has been completely disfigured, and presents a very gloomy aspect. The immense piles of earth, which have been excavated and thrown up, have quite a mountainous appearance: roads have been formed in several directions leading to the places or shafts, where the miners are at work; and the dreariness of the scene is only enlivened by the humble cottages, which have been erected for their residence. "Many of these cottages were originally grouped in small settlements in and around the mines. These only coalesced into a single village in the nineteenth century, when most of the mine workings had moved onto the surrounding hillsides. Following the end of mining, Polgooth's population dropped sharply and the village became a mainly agricultural, rural settlement. More recently, from the 1960s onwards, large numbers of bungalows and suburban houses have been built, thanks to the proximity of , , and the south Cornish coast.

3 Tregongeeves Farm on the northern edge of the village was home to Loveday Hambly, (1604–1682), who was later dubbed "the Quaker saint of ". George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends, stayed at the farm in 1656, 1663, and 1668 when meetings of Cornish Quakers (much persecuted at the time) were held there. The Quaker Burial Ground nearby was donated for that purpose in 1706 by Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe to the Quaker Thomas Lower (brother of the physician Richard Lower), ] though much of the ground was destroyed by road-widening in the 1960s. Tregongeeves farmhouse was rebuilt in the nineteenth century and the farm buildings have now been converted to 'holiday cottages'.

John Wesley, founder of Methodism, preached at Polgooth in 1755. A Wesleyan Meeting House was subsequently built in the village and later enlarged as a Methodist chapel. The latter has now been demolished, but a former Sunday School has been converted in its stead.

Many of the older buildings in the village were built from elvan stone, quarried locally until the 1920s. The Polgooth Inn dates back to the sixteenth century and is still extant, though the present building is mainly nineteenth century. The old count house survives, as does one of the old engine houses and a stamping mill (all now converted to private residences) plus several mining cottages

4 VICTORIAN TIMES IN AND AROUND POLGOOTH

AN ORIGIN IN MINING

The village of Polgooth lies a mile south west of St Austell, touching the western border of the St Austell parish but lying mainly in the parish of St Mewan and into St Ewe parish to the west and south of the town. The first recorded evidence of the settlement of Polgooth dates from 1502 referring to it as Polgoyth, a name derived from ‘pol’ for ‘pool’ (or perhaps mine or pit) and ‘goth’ for ‘goose’.

Early development of the village was associated with tin and copper mining since the time of Elizabeth 1. There is a tradition that the rise of the town of St Austell was due largely to the mining area of Polgooth. ‘St Austell was described as a poor village. It first rose to importance from its vicinity to Polgooth, one of the oldest tin mines in the county, and from the traffic arising from the numerous tin streams, both in the parish and in the locality.’ (Lake’s Parochial History of the County of Cornwall Vol 3 1870).

When Celia Fiennes made her journey across Cornwall on side saddle in 1695 she wrote of ‘at least twenty mines all in sight which employ a great many people at work, almost night and day.’ These were later amalgamated into one large concern becoming known as the Great Polgooth Mine. For a long time this was the most important mine east of Truro and in 1741 was one of only five mines in Cornwall rich enough to have a Newcomen atmospheric pumping engine installed.

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

At the dawn of the nineteenth century, the Great Polgooth Mine employed over a thousand people but by the time Victoria became queen this number had reduced to two hundred – 140 men, 10 women and 50 children. At the other end of the village a new mine had opened in 1836 – the South Polgooth Mine. Here there was copper, tin, arsenic, wolfram and zinc, but not much of any of these. In the mine’s early days over 130 persons worked there, but in 1839 this mine was abandoned, not to be worked again until 1880. A number of buildings in the village have survived from the early

5 nineteenth century in the form of miners’ cottages, the Polgooth Inn, the Count House and some of the streets and leats which were developed in connection with the Great Polgooth Mine. A quarry to the south of the village provided the fine, buff coloured stone used in the majority of these older buildings. From the beginning of the nineteenth century and until the early Victorian years, Polgooth developed from a mine with associated housing into a community with some services.

PENTEWAN HARBOUR AND RAILWAY

About two and a half miles south east of Polgooth lies the harbour of . The emerging china clay industry had encouraged Sir Christopher Hawkins of Trewithen, near Probus, to rebuild the harbour there as an outlet for his own clay extracted from several clay pits north west of St Austell which he owned. The new harbour opened in 1824 with the final touches being made in 1826 and it remained in business for a hundred years. From here, china clay was shipped out with over half being dispatched from Hawkins’ pits and the remainder from other clay firms in the vicinity. Some coal was imported for the Polgooth Mine and other mines in the district such as the Great Hewas, Ventonwyn, St Austell Consols and Dowgas mines.. A stone pier extended for 500 feet from the harbour gates, built in an attempt to keep sand clear of the entrance. A hundred yards below the gates a granite stone, bearing the Hawkins’ arms is built into the pier bearing the inscription

SIR C H BRT 1826.

By the beginning of Victoria’s reign a mineral railway had been working for eight years, running the distance of four miles from West Hill, St Austell to the harbour at Pentewan. The line ran parallel to the often named the White River owing to carrying clay deposits from the clay works. (The Cooperative stores now stand in the former yard of the St Austell terminus). Planned by Sir Christopher, he died before seeing his project completed and his estates and railway were inherited by his nephew, Christopher Henry Thomas Hawkins. Since young Christopher was a minor, his affairs were handled by his father at the outset. The railway was steep enough in its upper half for the wagons in use to run by gravity about half-way to Pentewan. The remainder of the journey, (from the Iron Bridge) and the return of the wagons to West Hill, was completed with the help of horses. At the outset there were six

6 wagons, each wagon having a capacity of 3 to 4 tons.

AN INDUSTRIAL AREA

Thus Victorian Polgooth was at the heart of an industrial area. The village lay amidst two tin and copper mines; a mineral railway serving that part of the china clay industry situated on the granite uplands of Hensbarrow to its north and west; with a small harbour to the south at Pentewan to permit the export of the products of this rapidly expanding industry.

UNEMPLOYMENT

Despite this apparent potential for employment, the dreaded workhouse loomed as a constant threat for those unfortunate enough to become unemployed or for any reason simply unable to work. Cornwall was divided into 13 separate districts for the administration of the Poor Law and parishes were united to form ‘unions’. St Austell’s Union of 15 parishes, (St Mewan and St Ewe being among them), commenced in April 1837 and the Union Workhouse was built in 1839 in part of the old Priory grounds at Sedgemoor, St Austell, replacing one which had existed near west bridge, in the town. It could accommodate 300 inmates.

CLAY WORKERS

By 1874 the china clay industry was in the process of taking over from the tin mining industry in mid-Cornwall. In all, there were by then 167 clay pits in the St Austell area. It is said that the majority of miners looked down on clay-working as an inferior occupation, but many miners in the district were glad to turn to clay working rather than emigrate or become unemployed when the local tin and copper mines closed down. VARYING FORTUNES

Tin and copper prices were fickle. The price of tin went so low in 1842 that the Great Polgooth Mine lay idle for three years but re-opened in 1845 under new management with bigger pumping engines which allowed mining at deeper levels. In 1849 the mine acquired new stamps (used for crushing the raw products). The new engine worked 120 heads - ten sets of twelve each and thought to be the largest in the country. By 1853 the price of tin had dropped and despite further expenditure on improvements, the mine was making a loss and closed in 1857. 7 The Great Polgooth Mine was re-opened in 1870 when the price of tin revived with just 70 persons employed but again abandoned in 1874. It was worked from time to time but all major activity had ceased by 1894. Of its many shafts the deepest was ‘Taylors’, 160 fathoms from the surface. Above the village today the stump of its engine house stands in the midst of the golf course. Before china clay became important the mine was described as ‘the best friend St Austell ever had.’

OBSERVING SUNDAYS

Due to strong Nonconformist influence in the village, the stamps stopped on a Saturday night to observe the Sabbath. One resident reported, ‘We could hear the stamps all the time throughout the village. When they switched them off on a Saturday night, we couldn’t get used to the quiet.’

The observance of Sunday was almost a religion in itself in Victorian and Polgooth was no exception. No games of any kind were played on it; no field sports indulged in; no entertainments given, public or private. Even books were censored for the day; novels were banned; only the Bible or serious, preferably religious, works were to be read.

Today’s passion for pleasure would have shocked the Victorians. In typical English villages in the 70s and 80s, practically all the inhabitants above the youngest infants attended church or chapel every Sunday, many of them twice or even three times. The children also went to Sunday schools. The only exceptions would have been a few known village ne’er- do-wells. Attendance would, most likely, have been at the thirteenth century Anglican Church at St Mewan or the Nonconformist Meeting House in Polgooth which became enlarged to a full Methodist chapel with a new Sunday school.

1874: TWO SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

A LOCOMOTIVE ON THE PENTEWAN RAILWAY

Two significant events occurred in 1874 and would have created immense local interest. Railway ‘Mania’ had gripped Britain in the 1840s and by 1870 the railway network covered about 21,000km. Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge across the Tamar opened in 1859 and by 1867 a railway service from Paddington to had been opened.

The Pentewan horse-drawn mineral railway had become archaic. From 8 the outset it had the disadvantages of not reaching the clay pits it served - the clay had to be brought to the West Hill terminus in St Austell by horse -drawn wagons - and at Pentewan there were constant problems with sand silting the harbour. Plans were made to convert the existing line from a horse-drawn tramway to a locomotive-worked railway. To achieve this, about four miles of track had to be re-laid with an additional half a mile of track in the railway’s sidings. It was also planned to extend the railway both up the Gover Valley and the Trenance Valley as well as lay a track to the station at St Austell. These extensions would have brought the railway to the pits it served.

However, financial difficulties arose as investors fought shy of putting money into a railway serving a port which had silting problems, thus raising doubts about its future. There were initial objections to a locomotive running to and from St Austell. These were overcome with an agreement that the locomotive would run only from the Iron Bridge at Tregorrick to the harbour, with horses pulling the wagons the rest of the way. Part of the agreement was also that a wall should be built shielding the railway from the St Austell to Mevagissey road so that people and horses would not be frightened by the locomotive.

So it was that the first locomotive began on the line in 1874 - a 0-6-0 tender engine named Pentewan which ran chimney first from the Iron Bridge to the harbour and made its way back in reverse - there being no turntables at either end of the line. Before the end of the Victorian era two further locomotives were bought for the railway. In 1886 the Pentewan was replaced by a similar locomotive named Trewithen. In 1901 the biggest and most popular locomotive, Canopus, began its work on the line. (Locomotives were permitted to travel to West Hill from 1908, provided smokeless fuels were used).

ST. MEWAN SCHOOL OPENED

Of far greater significance and longer-lasting benefit to the community was the opening of the Board School at St Mewan, also in 1874. Following W.E.Forster’s Education Act of 1870 which became law under Gladstone’s Liberal administration, Mount Charles, in the neighbouring parish of St Austell, had witnessed the erection of the first Board School in England in 1872. In that year, parishioners at St Mewan met to make

9 decisions on providing for the ’educational deficiencies of the Parish’. On 14th June, five members were elected to the Board. Its chairman was Rev Woollcombe, Rector of St Mewan. The St Mewan Inn (built in 1838) was purchased for £198 for the purpose of being converted to a dwelling for the School Master. The landlord, A. Bennett, was awarded £5 for immediate possession. Sylvanus Trevail, of Carne, Par Station, was appointed as architect. The sum of £1260 was borrowed from the Public Works Loans Commissioners for the purchase of the land next to the St Mewan Inn, for the Inn itself and for the erection of the school and provision of furniture.

The new school opened on Monday, 6th April 1874 under the leadership of the Master, Mr David Lloyd and with 146 children between the ages of 5 and 12 attending, drawn from the villages of Polgooth, and Sticker. Miss Sarah Jane Peel and Miss Mary Varcoe were the assistant mistresses. Initially the fees were set at a penny a week for those children under seven years of age and two pence per week for those over seven. (Fees were abolished in 1895).

Mr Lloyd was 35 years old when he took up his appointment. His salary was fixed at £60 per annum plus half of the Government grant received. This amounted to an additional £18. 16s 6d. at the time. Each year the school had a visit from an Inspector. The very first report was encouraging: ‘The order is good and the first step towards a proper state of efficiency has been taken.’

In very many parts of England the children had been brought up in an environment in which education (however generously that term may be interpreted), simply had no place. As a result, they were totally unequipped to begin the process of learning and must have presented teachers with appalling problems. However, in Polgooth and its environs, the strong religious influences, with attendance at Sunday school being recognised as being important in the community, the teachers at St Mewan School may well have been more fortunate. But other difficulties for the teachers are often recorded in the Log Book. From the very beginning there were problems in getting the children to attend regularly. By May, 1874 the number on roll had risen to 202 but the average number attending was only 151. In June the average was only 117 out of 204. But there were many good reasons for the children to stay away. The weather made a big difference to the numbers in the early years. The Log Book records:

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14th July, 1875. No school today - very wet all the day. No children attended.

2nd December 1875. ‘Attendances very small this week - very cold weather.’

13th March 1891. ‘Snow storm commenced and has been so severe that no children have been able to come and consequently there has been no school for the last four days.’ [This was the time of the Great Blizzard when snow drifts ten feet deep were encountered in some places in the district.]

Often it was illness that caused low number - all children in a family had to stay at home if one had an infectious disease. Thus on 30th August 1877 ‘Sent Philippa and Jessie Truscott home this morning owing to their sister being ill of scarlet fever.’ An epidemic of measles closed the school for practically the whole of April 1897. The third Headmaster of St Mewan School was William Henry Treloar who joined the school in 1892 and was responsible for its development for the next 27 years. In 1900 the Inspector’s report recorded, ‘This is one of the best Board schools I visit….’

The original Board School building is in use today. It stands beside completely new buildings overlooking the busy A390 St Austell to Truro road. The sedate and mainly equestrian Victorian modes of transport have given way to what appears to be a never-ending rush and buzz of products of the motor industry, with the holiday-makers’ suitcases invariably covered by loose plastic on the roofs of their cars and flapping in the wind as they hurry westwards to Truro and beyond.

Charles Lovell Headmaster, St Mewan School 1965 - 1995.

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12 The Old Miner

Arched, aching back, dust filled eyes, Faltering, weary step, sun greeting early rise. Dangerous, awesome, precipitous drop, black fathoms deep. Weary, flagging children trying not to weep. Gnarled, bark knotted hands; leathery, calloused, rough. Life below ground; dirty, foul, sweltering, tough. Croust time short, our pasties we devour To keep us goin' 'till finishing hour, When worn out bodies ladder after ladder climb, Relieved at last, 'tis going home time. Jadedly trudging homeward bound, Down the tracks without a sound. Too tired to chatter, too fatigued to smile. 'Tis a long trek home that endless two mile. Cap'n thinks we've done well today, Much ore has been dug, he do say. The more we dig, the more our wage, But it's getting hard with advancing age. 'Tis worth it when for our pay we go To the Count House where we stand below And collect our wage for the weekly toil, Which do keep our cooking pot on the boil. Although thankful still fit to go down the mine, I await the day I cease this arduous grind.

13 HAWKE'S SHOP 1910

Sweets in the window, jar after mouth watering jar, Nutballs, acid drops and chocolate bar, Liquorice straps broad, laces slim and peppermint fine. Bottles awaiting a child's inspection, standing in line.

Shiny scale, Brasso bright, on the counter does sit Polished so our faces oddly reflect in it. "Mrs Hawke, what's in the drawers with labels oh so clear?" "Sultanas, currants, figs and coconut my dear."

Soaps for washing; Sunlight, Hudson, Puritan too. For washday; Robin Starch and bags of Dolly Blue. Children puzzled why Reckitt's Blue made their washing white. They did not know why, but saw it did alright.

Rising Sun blacklead and Zebo for household chores, Oil of Cloves for toothache, cough mixture for the hoarse. Dried prunes and apricots, apple rings for the cook, Haberdashery of all kinds; needle, pin and hook.

Buttons, tapes, hair ribbons, cottons brown and black, Bootlaces of leather, shirt material at the back. Blocks of lard, Syrup of gold, vinegar and treacle cask. Mrs Hawke slicing bacon, always a tricky task.

Salt fish in long strips hanging leathery out of sight. Price's candles, bulb lamp chimneys to give homes warm light. Sacks of barley, sacks of oats stand with sacks of wheat, Potatoes for folks to plant, potatoes for folks to eat.

Players, Woodbines, twists of baccy for men's pipe bowls, Boot protectors, toe caps hard and irons for heels and soles. Oilcloth, mouse traps, wooden pegs for washing day, Enamel advert for Brasso, blue and white, on display.

Hawke's Shop had everything as you, by now, can tell. An Aladdin's Cave opened with the ring of the shop door's bell

14 TO FOREIGN CLIMES THEY WENT

Stamps now silenced, pumps are stilled, Soundless shafts, industry killed. The age old means to make their pay Taken from miners one fateful day, When mines were closed with tin price low, Then 'neath home ground no son could go. Far off lands beckoned Polgooth boys brave To find their work and money to save. So men sought work in strange terrain And crossed the seas to mine again. Their skills were many, their work rate great, To the Americas and South Africa they emigrate. In foreign climes for gold or silver they dig In countries to them that were so big, After the small Cornish village they left behind, With remorse, as they went their work to find. Their thoughts were never far from home And the village from where their hearts did not roam. For their Cornish homeland they did yearn And in later times some did return To the place they had left many years before And rejoiced with families in the land they adore.

15 ST MEWAN SCHOOL OF MANY YEARS GONE BY

Up Tregongeeves through turnip field and kissing gate, Hurrying along on our first day, we must not be late. Through creaking gate, by ash trees and up the sloping yard, Climbing steps of stone our small knees find so hard. To the green door, behind which are mysteries for sure, Into the waiting porch and through the Infants' door. Small faces survey their classroom with excitement's pang. Eyes upwards to the ceiling where paraffin lamps hang. Smells that young nostrils do not find the least pleasant; Paraffin, carbolic, sense invading disinfectant. Wet soggy roller towels, no dry spot to be found. The room is big and tall, sounds echo all around. The rising gallery where the tiny ones are jammed Copying teacher's writing in trays full of sand. The newly painted blackboard makes the chalk screech, As teacher writes letters she is going to teach. Lumpy, hard bars of plasticine made little fingers sore, Creating things with these was something of a chore. Knitting, drawing, playing, singing happy songs and rhymes, These for many were memories of the very best of times.

16 MINING IN POLGOOTH

Streaming, shoading, adit mining Through Polgooth's history are entwining. Goffins criss-cross in search of ore, Exploring levels pierce more and more.

Shaft, first shallow then dark fathoms deep. When stamps stopped thumping we could not sleep. Steam engines by Newcomen, Watt, Trevithick roar To pump out water from shafts below.

Miners trudging wearily up Tinners' Way To dig for tin through a long, painful day. Ladder after ladder down and down we go, Fathom after deep fathom to landing place below.

Through the tunnels dark and dusty, Through the stale air, hot and musty, Candle in hat with pick and spade we toil, Sweating and aching 'neath Cornish soil.

Digging, stamping, carting, tipping, On to Charlestown for outward shipping. Blowhousemen, bal maidens, miners below ground Make Polgooth Mine one of the richest around.

Lodes with strange names; Mulva, Raggs, Snailcreep Carry the precious ore of the deep. Great Polgooth, South Polgooth, silent ,now, relics of the past Still look on with pride as their memories last.

17 A POLGOOTH CHILDHOOD MEMORY

Wind rippled ponds with slate coloured tinge,

Bordered by willow and bullrush fringe.

Majestic kingfisher flies o'er blanket weed,

Keen eye alert with purpose to feed.

Children peer, too, for fish and tadpole.

Nature sweet nature, food for the soul

Triggers memories of sunny childhood, rainless days,

Which pierce through the gathering years' haze.

Like the sun burns away mist in early morn

Cherished happenings of the past begin to dawn

Of days spent walking Polgooth paths

And the echo of children's happy laughs,

As they greet birds, stream and swimming newt,

Springtime blossom or autumn fruit.

18 A little look at how you could research your Polgooth Family

This short article demonstrates possible research tools using a local family, the GAVED Family of Polgooth.

Any research should start by talking to family members who may have some information on their ancestors. If you know extended family relatives, then in may be worth contacting them to see if they are willing and able to help you. It is likely, however, that you won’t necessarily know about extended family members such as second cousins etc, yet!

The internet is another source of information BUT it comes with a caveat, what is placed there may be true but it does need checking against other information ideally from a non- internet source.

Below is an example of information on the GAVED family taken from the following website http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ This website list Birth, Marriage and Death (BMD) records from England & Wales. These go back to July 1837 and the website gives good coverage up to the 1940s and this coverage is being extended by work undertaken by volunteers. As the title suggests the information on the site is available for free. It is being cross checked as the transcription proceeds BUT again there is a caveat. The original information may have been written down wrongly, ie GAVED may have been written as CAVED. That said it is worth entering your name in to the search engine and see what comes up!!. If your name is one such as WILLIAMS, then you may need to narrow the search down a little as there will be too many results for the engine to display. A name such as GAVED should be entered with no further search parameters, such as dates, forename or places. More unusual names are very easy to research and you are lucky if your name is one of these.

The Home page has a box marked SEARCH and you should click this to take you down to the search boxes. The search page on page 20 is typical of many found on the internet

You should start with as little information as you can, ie perhaps a surname and a range of dates, if this turns up too many results, try narrowing it down by County, District or perhaps by a forename if you have someone specific in mind.

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The results of a search for GAVED resulted in a number of hits and I have extracted the ones on page 21as it is likely that they were from the Polgooth branch of the family, as they were registered in the St Austell District.

The information on page 21 allows you to search other website or perhaps obtain the certificates for the events. They can be ordered online or from the Cornwall Record Office (CRO) who hold the historic certificates for the whole of Cornwall.

TheCRO also hold historic records from the parish churches in Cornwall. These are not online at the CRO, but there are website that do have copies of indexes or perhaps even images of the records.

A check of these records reveals the following: Walter James GAVED baptised at St Mewan on 29 July 1849, son of John & Mary GAVED. This is without obtaining the birth certificate and as it is from parish records it gives his date of baptism which may be some time after the birth. The birth record shows that the birth was registered in the September Quarter of 1849, ie in July, August or September of that year. The baptism therefore took place less than a month after the birth. 20 Surname First name(s) Age District Vol Page

Births Sep 1849 GAVED Walter James St Austell 9 22

Marriages Dec 1873 GAVED Walter James St Austell 5c 249 WILLIAMS Susan St Austell 5c 249

Deaths Dec 1873 GAVED Susan 22 St Austell 5c 86

Marriages Dec 1880 GAVED Walter James St. Austell 5c 165 ARMSTRONG Lavinia St. Austell 5c 165

Births Sep 1885 GAVED Walter John St. Austell 5c 120

A search of records placed online by The Church of The Latter day saints at: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://familysearch.org/searchapi/search/ collection/1769414 Below is an image of the above entry. Baptismal entry for Walter James GAVED taken from St Mewan Parish Registers.

His father John is a Miner from St Mewan, this may mean from within the parish, but equally if he was from Polgooth it might say that.

Following this backwards we eventually find a likely marriage of Walter James’ parents at

St Mewan of a John GAVED aged 28, to a Mary CLEMO aged 23 on 18 Jul 1843.

Other records that can help confirm this are census records.

The census was taken every to years from 1801, with the last one being taken in 2011. The records are not able to be viewed until 100 years have elapsed and the 1911 census was available online during 2011.

21 Most censuses are onl;ine on PayPerView sites such as Ancestry at http:// www.ancestry.co.uk/ or findmypast at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/ both these sites have free indexes but to see the full image of the original records requires either an annu- al subscription or a payment to view the specific image, hence PayPerView.

1851 Census entry for the family of Walter J GAVED—page 23

The 1851 Census entry for the household shows John to be 35 and Mary to be 31. These tie in closely enough with the marriage entry to confirm that John GAVED and Mary CLEMO are the parents of Walter James GAVED. This is conformed absolutely by the fact that the eldest son in the family is a Walter S GAVED aged 11. This is not exact- ly the right age but often a person’s age is rounded up or down and in this case is close enough to be the same person. He is a labourer in the mine. Other family members are also shown and this is very useful in tracing siblings and sometimes the Head of House- holds parents may be living with them. This helps take the family back another genera- tion.

Living nearby in 1851 is another John GAVED aged 62 and his wife Mary aged 55. These may well be the parents of the John GAVED above who is aged 35 and this war- rants further research. The 1911 census shows the family living at Hill House, Polgooth and has some crossings out and these mention two children who are now living in America other may have been born in America and subsequently died. One of the children Rosetta GAVED, aged 14, has had epileptic fits for 9 years. It is this sort of information that the 100 year rule is pro- tecting and medical details were not available to the public until January 2012.

A check of marriage records in the USA found the following:

At Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana a marriage on 31 Jan 1942 between Walter J GAVED and Della BLACK. The parents of Walter J GAVED are given as Walter J GAVED and Lavinia ARMSTRONG. This proves that the Walter John listed and crossed out in the 1911 Census is in fact the person married in Great Falls.

This opens up a wider research area and checks of ships passenger lists and US immi- gration records could reveal more about the family.

Walter John GAVED migrated to America on the SS Adriatic and arrived in New York on 09 Feb 1911 having sailed from Southampton. He was aged 25. This was only just be- fore the census was taken and possibly why his name was entered onto it. Had his name not been there on the census we may never have known that he went to America!

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23 The ship’s manifest shows him as being 5ft 7½in tall of a fair complexion with brown hair, blue eyes and no identifying marks His father was named as Mr GAVED of Polgooth, Cornwall.

Interestingly he was listed in the 1910 Census for the USA as living at Mammoth, Juab County, Utah with his wife Eva. His date of immigration was given as 1906 so he must have returned to Cornwall between 1910 and 1911.

His wife was Eva STONE and they married in Salt Lake City, Utah on 2 Aug 1907.

Checks of earlier ships passenger lists show a Valter J GAVED (note the mis- transcription of his first initial, it is a V in the original) sailed to America on the ship, SS St Louis, he arrived in the New York on 28 Apr 1906, having sailed from Southampton. His age was given as 20 (see below for his brother).

Death records will often give more information, especially those in the USA. His record shows that he died on 24 Jun 1946 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah. His mother’s name is given as Lavinia and he was born in Cornwall on 10 Aug 1885. His father’s name is given as Thomas Henry GAVED and I suspect that this is an error. He was divorced from his wife Eva JOHNSON. His body was embalmed and taken to Butte, Montana for burial. He had lived in the USA for 36 years and in Salt Lake City for 9 months. He died of heart failure having been taken to hospital and died 30 minutes before the doctor could see him. He had suffered from heart problems for 4 months and silicosis for some time.

Another child in the 1911 census is Thomas Henry GAVED and there is evidence that he sailed to America on the ship, SS St Louis, he arrived in the New York on 20 Oct 1906, having sailed from Southampton. His age was given as 19. He arrived on a later sailing of the same ship as his brother. The ship’s manifest shows him as being 5ft 5in tall of a fair complexion with brown hair, blue eyes and a scar on his forehead.

Another son stated as being dead in the 1911 census is James GAVED and he died of Typhoid in Mammoth, Juab County, Utah at 2:45pm on 16 Dec 1910, he was born on 5 Dec 1888.

He emigrated to the USA on the SS Adriatic and arrived in New York on 23 Mar 1910. His residence in the UK was given as Hill House, Polgooth the residence of Mr C LEMIN. The ship’s manifest shows him as being 5ft 7in tall of a dark complexion with brown hair, grey eyes and no distinguishing marks. Travelling with him to the USA was Thomas George LEMIN aged 20, he was also from Polgooth and probably related to the Mr C LEMIN mentioned earlier.

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The research I did to unearth the above information took me about a week of evenings to put together. Most evenings I spent about an hour searching the internet.

This article does not give all the websites I visited as part of the fun is looking for web- sites, ideally containing free information, to assist you in your travels in time.

I hope that some of you may be prompted into looking into your family. I also hope that the GAVED family I used to illustrate my story is a family that belongs to someone read- ing this article

David Holman

A Polgooth Cottage Backalong

One up,one down, outside toilet yards away, Scullery, outdoor barrels catching rain for our washday. Black leaded Cornish range to cook and room to heat. Furze sticks for the fire to roar away a treat. Frying pan, saucepan, big steaming kettle, Boiler, mangle, bath tub of greyish metal. Oven gives forth pasties and delicious saffron cake. For the kitchen table where we the food partake. Family photos, china dog, candlesticks stand tall, Oil lamps bright and pictures hanging on the wall. Working in the garden with vegetables and fruit, Mother wears knitted stocking in elastic sided boot, Woollen shawl, blouse, white pinafore, long grey skirt. Father in corduroy trousers, hob nails, striped navy shirt. To the nearest water pump our pitcher for to fill, Work the handle up and down then trudge back up the hill. Half the water, or maybe more, for sure would be spilled, As we climbed o'er hedge and rounded fields newly tilled. All these are snapshots of a Polgooth bygone age. A picture book turning back page after colourful page 25 LION

Now Lion the horse was a crafty old brute

And quickly across the field he would shoot,

Those times when there was work to be done

Towards Tregongeeves he would have gone.

Every day young Master Hawke Lion would chase

And he would give the young lad quite a tough race.

The horse knew what was wanted by Mr Hawke's son,

It was sometimes touch and go who in the end won.

Eventually he was caught, but the poor lad for school was late

And, out of breath, he dashed through the school gate.

'Twas always a rush; arriving on time was his goal.

While Lion went round with a cart of groceries and coal

26 WARTIME POLGOOTH

Evacuees escaping the bombing of war Came down to Polgooth from places afar. Mine tunnel serving as shelter from raids, Blackout at windows must be obeyed. At Five Turnings the Home Guard a watch did keep And checked on identity as the village did sleep. Then, afore long, rationing did come in, So folks kept pigs, geese, ducks and chicken. Two ounces of butter, same for tea and cheese. Offal was off ration, which many did please. Four ounces of marge, bacon, ham and fat. Eight ounces of sugar, that's all you got of that. One egg and each month a packet of egg dried. You couldn't get more no matter how hard you tried. The children, poor things, their sweets were on coupons. Twelve ounces for four weeks of toffees like bon bons. Even food for pigs was rationed, there was a rub, So the villagers formed themselves into a club. 'Twas a way to be sure of getting the pig's meal, Even then they probably didn't get a great deal. Then into the village came the American GIs, So the cooks of Polgooth baked lemon meringue pies. One food, I have heard, you could get with more ease, 'Tis said not many folk had their ration of cheese.

27 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY

Spirited bang of the Sticker Drum, Flapping banner in the breeze, Rousing brass sounds rum-ti-tum, Bring mugs for cordials and teas.

Proudly march through village street, To Count House, refreshments and then on To local field for awaited treat, Tea pots, china cups, splits, saffron.

Call for sports, awaited part of day, A signal that starts the evening's fun. Mole hills flattened to clear a way, Necessary if youngsters are to run.

Mrs Cundy sells treacle rock and sweets, Band plays to everyone's delight, Through the village, a Floral Dance with tiring feet, Nearly time to finish, many say goodnight.

Tired young children home to bed, The very old also homeward bound. What now remains is teenage led, The village hears their happy sound.

Young voices echo through dim twilight, Their games are fun, tiredness fades away, French Tig to Kissing Ring, as dusk leads into night, Then home, end of a happy Anniversary Day.

28 AUGUST BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY

Bank Holiday Monday, Sunday School's Tea Treat

Starts at the Institute where, excitedly, we meet.

Baker up at crack of dawn to bake large saffron bun,

To take to Pentewan beach with hope we see some sun.

Children climb on lorries, come the rain or shine.

A great day and fun we'll have, even if 'tis not fine.

Should the weather be unkind no need to worry or fret,

Tarpaulins slung 'tween lorries keep us from getting wet.

It won't rain all the time, 'twill be fine for our picnic,

Trelowth to right, Polgooth to left of Pentewan Win- nick.

Elderly people behind a rock, as they have their feast,

It provides some shelter when winds blow form the east.

Large trestle tables with jam splits and tasty bun.

The children's game, the Kissing Ring, ends a day of fun.

29 OLD VILLAGE PASTIMES

The Village Institute, a meeting place for all, Its activities changing over the years, Men sitting reading papers in the hall, Which at other times was filled with chairs.

Then the folks watched panto, "Oh yes it is!" they cried, Some played billiards and whist and danced at the hop. The awaited flower and veg show, always was a pride, With people giving thought to which entry should be top.

The opening of the Playing Field, an event that was so big On a piece of land in the village, the people called Coxhead. There were stalls, sideshows and the challenge of "Singing the Pig". And a great day was had by all so I have heard it said.

Animals treated the village inn as if it was their fold, Bubbles, the Polgooth lamb, loved potato chips to hog. Also came the cat and horse, both very old, I'm told On the horse's back did ride Driver the old sheepdog.

Anniversary and Christmas parties were always lots of fun. Meccano, ludo, snakes and ladders village young did enjoy And walking Polgooth lanes whether in shadow or sun Were long remembered, happy times for the village girl and boy.

30 TYE-SHUTE LANE

Tye-Shute in Springtime, a bursting plethora of hue, With bright eyed primrose nestling by yawning rabbit hole, Past campion, daffodil, violet and yellow celandine too, People amble the rustic lane and enjoy a pleasant stroll.

The stream ripples busily by as it has for countless years, Meandering between green or furrowed fields, past farmer's gate. The aged trees' breaking buds unfurl with dewy tears As they line this arboreal way so strangely quiet of late.

Brightly coloured pheasants are startled as we pass And rooks fly high to branches of tallest trees to nest. Horse and sheep upward glance from feeding on the grass, As do bullocks from the soft ground where they rest.

Tye-Shute in years gone by was a different, busier scene. In a sloping field Chapel children playing, having fun. Women carrying pasties for workers of the field are seen. Pony and trap follows the dappled track, patterned by the sun.

Worshippers, in Sunday best, walk to Chapel in . Cooks go for baker's yeast, at a cost of just one penny. Miners turn up Higher Coombe and climb to the mine in the south. Tye-Shute from village to village, a route then used by many.

This old track o'er generations has known a different scene, With stream feeding pumps and waterwheels' power. Now the lane is a painted picture with hues and tints of green A verdant place where walkers gaze and spend a pleasing hour

31 MRS SMITH'S POST OFFICE

Postcards a half and letters one penny,

The Polgooth date stamp that cancelled many.

Cards and letters delivered the very next day.

Parcels weighed and stamped and sent on their way.

Chair near the counter for the daily chat.

Old lady sitting there in her coat and hat,

Cherishing friendly moments, as she talks to all.

They all speak back and ask her to call.

Paper bags hang on nails close to jars nearby,

To hold the sweets a child's penny can buy.

Packets of colourful jelly and blancmange can be found

With yeast sold by the ounce, golden syrup by the pound.

Pepper in a paper bag, keep clear or you'll sneeze!

Quaker oats, cocoa tins, Camp Coffee, Lipton's Teas.

Writing paper, envelopes, Stephens ink, materials to write

Can be found on the shelves all clearly in sight. Ribbons, labels, postcards, these the shop does sell,

With parcel paper and string to tie tightly and well.

32

Needles for sewing, needles for darning, cotton embroidery,

Crochet cottons, threads of brown, black and white we see.

Between two counters fastened securely to the wall

Is a glass fronted cabinet containing cures for all;

Tins of Zambuk, Vaseline powders and pills,

Syrup of Figs, Epsom Salts, medicines for ills.

To delight all, at Christmas come out ornaments and toys,

Christmas sweets, Christmas cards, games for girls and boys.

A most interesting place the Post Office and General Store,

Selling stamps, food, haberdashery, sweets and lots, lots more

33 SOUNDS OF OLD POLGOOTH

"We'll help you Jimmy Keam," the children call with glee,

So they lead the blind seller round as he sells his tea.

As the village taps are passed more voices are then heard,

The villagers filling their vessels stop to have a word.

A strange sound for Polgooth is a Frenchman's yell,

As he shouts, "Onions, onions to sell."

Johnny Fortnight's call for rag,bone and knick knack,

The clatter of his cart as it rumbles down the track.

The hammering of the stamps for all but just one day,

Carriage makers and coopers tap, tapping away.

Mr Langford's car creates a new, unique sound,

The children are thrilled when this wonder is around.

The butcher's sharpening his knife, by the scraping you can tell.

The baker's oven door clangs shut, take in that glorious smell.

The thrust of heavy spade as it digs into gardener's soil,

The sounds of the chickens and pigs as they watch him toil.

34 The sweetness of summer echoed by the bees' busy hum,

Hurried footsteps of Grannie Down rushing to another expectant mum.

Voices of chattering children from school homeward bound,

Picking juicy blackberries, which in hedgerows they have found.

Into Hawke's shop they go, greeted by tinkling bell,

People asking about the goods Mrs Hawke will to them sell.

At Yella Burro there is laughter as Mugs tells his tale.

He was said to cheer people up and did this without fail.

The clatter of hob nailed boots of boys and iron soled of men,

As they trudge wearily home from the mine again.

Many were our village sounds in those days of yore

And are still there when Polgooth dreams of long ago.

35 ECHOES

Listen to the past; Though all seems quiet, now, on each cold mining site, Dream and hear clattering boots climbing Higher Coombe's height.

Listen through the swirling breeze; Swishing brush of bal maiden over newly mined ore And voices of children whose toil make small hands sore.

Listen below wind rippled fields; Piercing sounds of miners' picks in shaft's hard, rocky wall And creaking wooden steps that do so many fathoms fall.

Listen in desolate ruins; Striking match that miners' candles light And thumping, busy stamps crushing ore into the night.

Listen at mine's bleak top; Rake of wreckers' paddled tools on watery slopes again And the rattle of donkey's cart taking tin load to the train.

Listen by lanes of verdant verge; Clanking bucket, turning wheel or hissing steam Of engines pumping water from shaft of tin lode seam.

Listen by balconied Count House; Talking, tired miners waiting for their pay And villagers' chattering voices on a Mine Feast Day.

Listen, dream; And let wondrous fancy and mind's eye Recall Polgooth's past through echoes drifting by.

36 A PARTICULAR PLACE

What makes a place to senses attractingly special? How do my thoughts in reverie to this premise wend? Could it be past subterranean digging in lodes for met- al? Or maybe the tint laden rustic scene round every bend?

Perhaps hue splashed flower edged lanes could be its charm And winding tracks that pass hedge and mossy tree stump. The rippling, warbling streams that flow briskly past farm, Olden brooks that once fed waterwheel and pump.

Age old images and echoes that each day us greet; Ivy covered engine house and relics of archaic mine, Happy Sunday School feasts, children's sprightly danc- ing feet, Miners at Count House waiting for their pay in line.

Thumping stamps, waterwheels surging gush, Cooper's tap, farm tractor's diligent roar, Bells that ring with shop door's push. Sight, sound, scent through fancy and memory soar.

These are visions that sweep softly across the mind, As does village life today, the cheery hello, All facets of that particular place I wished to find Are found where I am now, not somewhere I need to go.

37 REMINDERS OF ANOTHER TIME

Ivy invaded engine house rises nobly above the hill,

Its tough granite stones erosive elements withstand.

The tapering trunk-like stack hugs its cold, strong walls still

And the western sun lights up this relic in an ancient land.

Arsenic ovens the archaic monument company still keep,

Now gaping, empty mouths awaiting filling all in vain,

Belying prior potency, vibrant creepers from crevices peep,

As side by side secret, black holes look blacker in the rain.

The mighty embossed-faced stamps stand so weirdly silent

Their,once vital, ore crushing labour now all done,

Quiet, the erstwhile, thunderous thud, their mighty energy spent.

A static mine reminder lying idle in the sun.

Account Houses from a mining past we can all still see.

When mists of time clear, through our fancy, miners stand

Waiting with eyes upraised, beneath tall balcony

To receive their hard earned pay in a scarred hand.

Moss covered landmark stones, old pointers proudly stand, 38

Concealing initialled indents beneath jackets of green.

Telling who mining rights possess in this their Cornish land.

Search hedgerow and field, hiding or not, these markers will be seen.

A verdant mass o'er goffin lies like a protective rug,

Concealing secrets of centuries when ore lode was explored

And from a wide mouthed chasm by village tinners dug

In days before dark, deep shafts in Polgooth ground were bored.

Strong and sturdy waterwheel, its days of toil long over,

Lies still, while chattering, rippling streams, unhindered, happily flow

Through stoney lanes, along hedges green and past a mass of clover,

Their sound can still be heard as they whisper of long ago.

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Thank you to all contributors

Produced & compiled by David Holman & Di Thompson

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