LIFE in CORNWALL in a Village Called Herland Cross, Cornwall
Alma Ward Hampton Memoir Page 1 LIFE IN CORNWALL In a village called Herland Cross, Cornwall, England, lived John Hampton (born about 1814), who married Elizabeth Curtis (Born about 1818). John rented or leased land which was near Godolphin Cross where the owner of the Estate lived, which contained a house and shed and land enough to keep a few cows and chickens. Over the years they had three sons and three daughters, John, Grace, William, Annie, James and Elizabeth. William known as Billy, who eventually came to Maple Ridge in the year 1879, was born February 19, 1854, and it is his story that will be related. For centuries Cornwall has been famous for its copper, tin and lead, and ships came from afar to obtain them. In those times work was provided for women and children at the surface which they called "the Bal a Celtic name for "mine place". Ore was brought up and placed on tables and was then broken into small pieces with hammers. At an early age, Billy did this work, until he was old enough to go down into a mine to work. At this time it was tin that was mined. The men went down the mine shaft in a bucket to a great depth. Sometimes they were given a fast ride for a prank, which was rather scary. Here he learned how to hammer in the iron drill, which they called a needle, to make a hole for the gunpowder for blasting. In the early days they used a goose quill for the fuse.
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