Cornish Story - Summer 2012

People

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Places

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Summer 2012

Language

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Food

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Events

Cornish Story ‘Pasty Tax’ Victory A modern Cornish Rebellion Mining History Down Under The Celtic Fringe - A Chinese Perspective A Cornish Murder Trial - Episode 2

Fish, Tin and Copper A Cornish Recipe Cornish Story Magazine Travel Issue

Summer 2012

Introduction Travel features prominently in cultural representations of Cornwall’s past and present. At one level this can be seen in the Great Migration of Cornish people to foreign destinations like Australia, North America and South Africa. This was particularly the case as a result of the collapse of the region’s mining economy in the late nineteenth century. Part of the response to deindustrialization was the emergence of tourism as holidaymakers began to visit Cornwall in increasing numbers. The Age of the Great Western Railway, which promoted the Duchy as an exotic but safe destination, was then followed by independent travel with the rise of the automobile industry throughout the twentieth century.

Many of the articles in the current issue of Cornish Story relate to this underlying theme. Bill Curnow investigates the early trading links between Cornwall and the Mediterranean in relation to the origins of the name ‘Britain’: as we shall see a fascinating clue in itself to the area’s economic importance in ancient times. Connections with Australia are also put under the spotlight as part of our ongoing series on Cornish migration. Chris Dunkerley explores the story of the Cornish on the Pacific side of the Australian continent, while Greg Drew discusses the work of the Australian Mining History Association. Since this year marks the centenary of the disastrous maiden voyage of the Titanic it is appropriate to include an article by Xin Gong on the fascinating ways in which James Cameron’s film portrayal of this tragic event in 1997 has been influential in the growing interest in the Celts in modern China.

The early years of tourism are discussed by Kim Cooper who provides an introduction to the wealth of historical information contained in travel guides at the Cornwall Centre/Kresenn Kernow. Bob Keys writes about amateur filmmaking in interwar Cornwall in relation to a silent film recently donated to the Cornish Audio Visual Archive by the family of the late Cecil Baldwin. In the 1930s Baldwin and his wife Elsie travelled to Cornwall for their summer holidays. His interest in film resulted in a wonderful visual portrayal of places like Newquay and Zennor during this bygone romantic era. Once again we also include the usual mix of book reviews, news features (including a report on the Pasty Tax campaign) and recipes from our resident chef Sanjay Kumar.

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Front Page Image

A sailing vessel at Charlestown

By Anna Tonkin

Editor: Anna Tonkin Design and Layout: John Ault Cornish Story Director: Garry Tregidga Contributors Elizabeth Abnett, Umar Ali, John Ault, Cedric Appleby, Kim Cooper, Bill Curnow, Margaret Davidson, Greg Drew, Chris Dunkerley, Xin Gong, Alan Kent, Bob Keys, Sanjay Kumar, Chloe Philips, Rachael Rowe, Anna Tonkin, Garry Tregidga Notes: The views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of Cornish Story. Full terms and conditions are available on our website and on request. For advertisement and media queries, contribution details or any other queries please contact us at magazine@cornishstory.co

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John Ault: Pasty tax

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Bob Keys: Cecil Baldwin’s films from the 1930s

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Margaret Davidson: The Baldwins

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Chris Dunkerley: Some Cornish Experiences in Australia

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Bill Curnow: Origin of Britain

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Greg Drew: Mining History Down Under

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Chloe Philips: CRO update

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Cedric Appleby: Murder Trial continued

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Xin Gong: The British Celtic Fringe- a Chinese Impression

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Beast of Bodmin Book review

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Umar Ali: Share Support Sustain: Celebrating Islam

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Rachael Rowe: St Ives: Air raid on St Ives

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Elizabeth Abnett: St Ives: In a nutshell

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Kim Cooper: Discovering Cornwall through Guidebooks

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Sanjay Kumar: Choughed UpSanjay

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Sanjay Kumar: Fish, tin, copper

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Alan Kent : Where have you gone Gus Honeybun?

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Pasty Tax Victory The birth of a modern Cornish Rebellion

By John Ault

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n March the 21st this year, the government released its annual budget. Amongst many unpopular policies one stood out, the tax that was to be imposed on hot savouries – more importantly, in Cornwall, on the Cornish Pasty. The aim was that imposing VAT on baked goods such as pasties would close ‘loopholes’ in VAT laws. Not only is the pasty synonymous with Cornwall it is also vital to the local economy. The industry employs 2000 people in the region alone and is worth at least £37.5 million to the local economy. The introduction of the tax would have resulted in 400 job losses and cost the local economy £7.5 million a year. With recession and high unemployment Cornwall reacted with its usual combination of rebellion and good humour.

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‘I dopetition not claim The was taken the to to know Downing answer Street to by a group of everything over a hundred but, unlike people, other hon. including locals and membersI Members, of pasty amthestupid industry, and enough to presented to have a try.’

David Cameron.

To begin with, a petition was set up to lobby the government to change their mind on this ‘half baked’ idea. During a 4 week period the petition would garner over half a million signatures across the country, and was the largest petition seen during this government. The petition was taken to Downing Street by a group of over a hundred people, including locals and members of the pasty industry, and presented to David Cameron.

However, it was not just the petition that helped put pressure on the government. There was strong opposition to the tax from the national bakers Greggs and the National Association of Master Bakers. There was even opposition as far a field as the United States and Australia! There were also campaigns in the national newspapers, most notably The Sun with their ‘Who VAT all the pies’ campaign. However the pressure provided by the Cornish people was still playing a vital role.

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he feeling of resentment towards the tax even brought the people of Cornwall out onto the street. In Falmouth over 600 people took to the streets to protest against the ‘pasty tax’. They did this the day after a tabled amendment to change the way pasties were taxed was narrowly defeated in the House of Commons. Once again the people of Cornwall were keeping up the fight, even in the face of probable defeat. All of this pressure eventually paid off. On the 28th of May the government announced a major U-turn when George Osborne announced that the government was going to change the proposals put forward in the budget, and pasties and certain baked goods would remain exempt from VAT. The protest against the ‘Pasty Tax’ was well and truly a modern Cornish rebellion. It involved local business, MP’s, and most importantly Cornish people. Despite being a long way from Westminster, when it came to the ‘Pasty Tax’ the citizens of Cornwall made their voices heard!

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The introduction of the tax would have resulted in 400 job losses and cost the local economy £7.5 million a year.

Stephen Gilbert MP at the Pasty Tax victory event at Roche

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Discovering Cornwall: Cecil Baldwin and Amateur Filmmakers of the Inter-War period

By Bob Keys

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ecil Baldwin’s home movies, shot on trips to the Westcountry in the 1930s, provide some fascinating footage of Cornwall in the inter-war period. The films have been donated to CAVA by the Baldwin family and are a reflection of ‘one family’s story’ of holidays spent in Cornwall. The movies bring into focus the pre-occupations of the middle class visitor and the places of interest that they found worthy of recording at the time. The films contain footage of resorts and places of interest, the drama of waves, cliffs and the coast and a number of local events such as fishing trips, yacht races and local regattas. This draws our attention to two significant dimensions of film as an archive source for the historian and ethnographer. On the one, hand much amateur footage seems at first sight to record in a direct and unmediated fashion “ actuality “ played out in front of the lens, sometimes recording the minutiae of family life at other times almost incidentally recording background, characters, landscapes and events that would otherwise be lost to memory. This type of representation might appear an accidental recovery of the past, when images that seemed of little note, can be fore-grounded by later events. In this respect what would once have been loosely termed the ‘content’ of the footage can be of interest to later viewers simply seeking direct visual evidence to corroborate other historical sources in reconstructing visually the ‘archaeology’ of a disappearing landscape or community. On the other hand the film or cultural historian will be sensitive to a completely different dimension of the footage; the significance of the rise of the amateur film-maker and the nature of film-making as a leisure pursuit, including the cultural and even political assumptions that are revealed in the recordings. The cinema audience by the end of the 1930s’ was already accustomed to the conventions of newsreel and in particular to the film travelogue, introducing potential tourists to areas of outstanding beauty and to quaint and unusual corners of Britain such as the Cornish Riviera.

This directs us to the issue of the complex relationship between the work of the dedicated amateur film-maker and the rapid growth of the professional film industry. Going to the cinema’ as a mass leisure activity, which in many respects reached its peak in the 1930s and 1940s, also affected the visual awareness and style of amateur film makers and the subjects they chose to shoot.

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‘I do not claim The cinema to know the audience answer toby the end of everything the 1930s’ but, unlike was already other hon. accustomed Members, I to the am stupid conventions enough to of newsreel have a try.’

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he Baldwin footage; originally a series of between eight/ten reels of approximately four minutes’ duration each, amounts to under 40 minutes viewing in all. It covers scenes from the North and South coastal areas of Cornwall, including Zennor and the Lands End, as well as some parts of Devon and Wells Cathedral. It has not been possible to identify all of the locations with absolute certainty. In many ways it is exemplary of 1930s’ home movies; of ‘things we saw and did on our holidays’. It features two couples on holiday, although a third couple also appears briefly, and indicates their relatively affluent life style, borne out by the fashionable clothes and relatively expensive cars used by the family. Shooting, editing and presenting home movies at the time was an expensive hobby; on the whole a leisure activity of the wealthy, dedicated amateur. Cecil Baldwin was an adventurous cameraman and attempted to shoot some Cornish scenes from moving vehicles and from boats at sea, as well as directing a brief ‘romantic scenario’ for two of the couples.

However unmediated, direct or naïve this amateur footage may appear it is still a “construction of reality” rather than a simple reflection. The footage requires certain decisions to be made by the cameraman, even if it consists of a simple uncut linear sequence, as if the eye was looking directly through the lens. In this case the footage corresponds in real time more or less to the duration of the event being recorded, but still imposing an implicit point of view on the material. In the work of the more ‘professional’ amateurs the cutting and editing of material, (often informed by guidance from amateur film magazines or through participation in a film-making club or association) demonstrates a movement towards the construction of a more coherent visual narrative, even a pre-conceived and scripted scenario, which is played out for the camera, rather than an accidental recording of ‘reality’ Lying behind such scenarios may be a whole series of ideologies about family life, community events and rituals or indeed identification with the ‘real’ imagined landscape that the film ‘constructs’.

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The Baldwin films need to be placed in a context set not just by the newsreels of the time

he Baldwin films need to be placed in a context set not just by the newsreels of the time, with which both the cameraman and the cinema going public was familiar, but also the contemporary work of other amateur film-makers. Among the most interesting of the dedicated amateurs who were active in Cornwall in this period we find: the award winning ‘professional’ work of the Barnes brothers; John and William, who produced two films in the 1930s representing Cornwall; ‘Gem of the Cornish Riviera’ in 1936, featuring mostly scenes from St Ives and ‘Cornish Nets in 1938-39, featuring the fishing industry. Major Gill, a local enthusiast, who produced and directed a whole series of black and white and some colour footage from the 1930s to the 1940s, focusing on a broad range of local industries and local customs and whose archive is held by the Royal Cornwall Museum and the South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA). While in contrast and perhaps more typical of amateur film representing the family and the local community there are the films of the Larkin family, covering some thirty years of village life at Port Isaac and Port Gaverne, between 1930 and 1950, shot mostly by Lionel Castle and also held by SWFTA.

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Summer 2012 The selection of amateur film described above is a fairly representative cross section of the nature and types of film being shot by home movie makers and the more professional dedicated amateur for whom the hobby was in some respects a ‘vocation’, or at the very least a ‘serious leisure pursuit’, in the sense of the definition given by Stebbings. Where are we to situate the home movies of Cecil Baldwin in relation to this movement?

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he inter-war period was a time when a small but significant number of amateur film-makers made an important contribution to the history of film and the cinema in the USA, Great Britain and Europe in ways which are only now being assessed by both social and film historians. This was an era which saw competition between a multiplicity of film widths and gauges as cheaper light weight cameras were developed for home use, particularly in the USA; but ‘light weight’ only in comparison to the professional equipment. An era at times difficult to imagine today, before the later media revolutions of TV, video and digital technology, which have combined with the spread of the Internet to create the ‘24-hour’ audio-visual popular culture and the ‘blogosphere’, whose impact we experience on a daily basis. Today it is difficult to understand that in the inter-war period amateur film-makers were the privileged few; equipment was relatively bulky and expensive, processing and editing the film required certain technical skills and projecting the finished product at home or in local halls required a reasonable projector. It is hardly surprising that this was a hobby mostly pursued by wealthy amateurs from the professional and upper classes, those who had the time, resources and the dedication required to meet the demands of such a technical and artistic vocation.

Despite the narrowness of its social base the legacy of the dedicated amateur requires a serious assessment within its social and historical context. The work of Cecil Baldwin consists of a typical ‘archive’ made up of footage of mixed and uneven quality and not entirely coherent, where we are faced with very personal visions of family or community life. The footage made up of simple stories, linear visual narratives, which deal with themes or topics from a ‘subjective’ point of view and a style characteristic of the amateur ‘auteur’.

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ow should we read such footage when it is projected today? There is probably no simple answer to this, as in part it depends on the quality of the questions that we bring to bear on the material and how informed we are already about Cornwall in the 1930s. The analysis of amateur film until quite recently was a relatively under-developed area. One of the few books dedicated to the history and significance of amateur film is by Patricia Zimmerman, ‘Reel Families: A Social History of Amateur Film’, which despite its exclusive concern with the rise of amateur film-making in the United States, raises the key issue of the approach, or rather absence of approach by most historians to this topic and the contradiction at its heart, she notes that:

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Amateurism …. emerged between 1880 and 1920 as the cultural inversion of the development of economic professionalism.”

“Amateurism …. emerged between 1880 and 1920 as the cultural inversion of the development of economic professionalism.”

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he historian of film and cinema has tended to leave amateur film material almost exclusively to the social historian and occasional ethnographer, who were too often looking for unsophisticated visual illustrations for the rituals of family and community life, which were their main concern. The Baldwin footage is valuable because it comes before the later explosion of home movie making, which was essentially a post Second World War phenomenon, due to the technical revolutions in film production, the development of projectors suitable for home use and the arrival of cameras that were even more portable and economically within the range of the average family budget; the beginning of a democratic revolution in popular visual culture. Nevertheless the inter-war period was a time when the small but increasing number of enthusiasts such as Baldwin, produced some fascinating footage from beginnings which may have started as the expensive hobby of an elite but were filtering down already to the professional studio photographer with an interest in the new technology of moving pictures rather than still life portraits, the predominantly middle class members of film and cinema clubs and the small number of working class intellectuals active in the film work of the Co-operative movement or the trade unions. The proletarian intellectuals associated with the trade union film units and the labour movement, with workers’ film clubs and Co-operative societies cannot be dealt with here, but was reflected already in a more directly political attitude to film culture that can be seen in the short-lived Workers’ Topical News (1930-31), a newsreel issued by the Federation of Workers’ Film Societies.

It is clear that the process of the diffusion and assimilation of popular movie making, as opposed to movie viewing, is an important phenomenon that deserves further study. In this respect there are some similarities to the history of still photography somewhat earlier and the development of popular photography, from the first hand-held still cameras of 1888 down to the arrival of the ‘Box Brownies’, which brought home photography for all within the budget and technical ability of everyman and increasingly everywoman; recording the important events of family life, friendship groups and community celebrations. While professional film production in the twentieth century took on the dimensions of a modern industrial and capitalist process, which despite the artistic and craft assumptions of directors, actors and cameramen, rapidly became located in the studio ‘factories’ of Hollywood and other national production centres, amateur film remained essentially personal, spontaneous and of course technically unsophisticated. As Stefan Szczelkun has pointed out, while in the early days amateur film-making could at least stand for: “freedom, daring, mental agility and pioneering invention. In other words it was a positive label for all that was excluded by the corporate professional work structure. As leisure increased and became more widespread the meanings practically reversed and amateurism came to signify poverty of technique, lack of sophisticated aesthetic judgement and intellectual incoherence.”

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t is important to remember this changing relationship and the visual sophistication that most modern viewers today bring to ‘old’ footage. The Baldwin films were shot using Kodak film, Eastman-Kodak being a pioneering producer of film stock and equipment in the period. In 1932 Kodak produced its first 8mm amateur motion picture cameras, projectors and film. This was followed in 1935 by the introduction of Kodakchrome amateur colour film in 16mm format for motion pictures, 35mm for still slides and in 1936 film in 8mm gauge, specifically for home movies. Later in 1936 a new 16mm Cine-Kodak magazine was introduced as an alternative to rolls and these often gave approximately four minutes of shooting time to the cameraman. The running time of the Baldwin footage is just under 40 minutes in total and may therefore have been shot originally either as eight/nine reels, or as ten 4minute Kodak magazines, however there is clear evidence of some cutting and editing between sequences. The film we have is black and white, without sound, although very late in 1936 Kodak was to introduce a sound on film projector; the Sound Kodascope Special Projector. The appendix below provides a descriptive commentary for the sequence of films donated by the Baldwin family and the shooting locations. Despite some damage they have been transferred to a single DVD for CAVA. Further research should mean that all of the locations will eventually be identified and perhaps the chronology and dates on which the original ‘shorts’ were shot. In total they are a ‘travelogue’ that covers many of the principal Cornish resorts and tourist destinations, inter-cut with ‘memory” footage of family life and the leisure activity and personal relationships between the couples on holiday. The films appear to have been shot on Kodak reels (or magazines) of four minutes’ duration. There are at least eight separate ‘edited’ segments on the DVD, although clearly some sequences such as the mackerel fishing have either been shot on two discontinuous reels or have been edited to show as part of a ‘home movie’. There are several examples of damage to the film and the rather mysterious unexplained appearance (twice) of Felix; ‘the cat who kept on walking’. This was probably cut in during editing at some point to join two parts of the film in the interests of more effective presentation.

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Baldwin ‘IThe do not claim were tofilms know the shot using answer to Kodak film everything Eastmanbut, unlike Kodakhon. being other a pioneering Members, I producer am stupid of film stock enough to have a try.’

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owever we may begin to unpick the film, it represents a golden age in amateur film-making and alone serves as a fascinating insight into the Cornwall of this era.

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The Baldwins by Margaret Davidson O

ne of the goals I set myself on my recent retirement was to digitalise my parent’s photo albums, slides and cine films so we could have a family record which displayed our family history in pictures and would be a record for our children and grandchildren. My father presented me one day with a battered cardboard box containing 30+ reels of cine films. Some of these were our own family holidays but also contained in the box were the reels of film from my Great Auntie Elsie and Great Uncle Cecil Baldwin’s which my father had rescued whilst clearing their home following my Great Aunts death some 30 years ago.

We had never seen these films before and so one Sunday afternoon I organised a family gathering for the unveiling of these films.

My father’s cine film projector is at least 60 years old and the elastic drive band had perished but we found an old tough elastic band that worked as a substitute and the films began to reveal themselves. We were all astonished at the quality of the films bearing in mind some were more than 80 years old and had only been stored in this cardboard box in the attic!! We realised almost immediately that once Dad’s cine projector died this record would be lost to us forever. But more important than this we also realised this was a part of social history which we had a responsibility to share with an archive organisation that would preserve it and use it for education purposes. My Great Auntie and Uncle seen in the films are Elsie and Cecil Baldwin. They were married in the 1920’s and had a very successful dressmaking business with a shop in Bowes Park, North London. Auntie Elsie was the designer, fitter, buyer and a very hard working business woman. My Uncle Cecil did all the deliveries and odd jobs around the factory. They had several people working for them and their work was very important to them. They had a beautiful home on the Cuffley Ridgeway, which is a very prestigious area on the borders of London and Hertfordshire. Unfortunately they never had children but spent their free time in their amazing garden which they both loved. The garden is seen on one of the film. Their other passion was horse racing and Newmarket race course was their second home!!

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he other couple in the film were a couple who owned the butchers shop next to where my Great Auntie and Uncle had their business in Bowes Park. Their surname was Metzger and they were from Germany.

They became very good friends with my Great Aunt and Uncle and appear in the Devon and Cornwall films.

We understand that just before World War 2 they were interned we think on the Isle of Man but my father’s sister remembers meeting them at the house in Cuffley after the war but we don’t know what happened to them after this. My father and his sister both have fond memories of their Aunt and Uncle, Elsie and Cecil.

With their parents they joined them on family holidays in Cornwall. They remember leaving London at 3am on a Saturday morning and travelling through the night to get to Cornwall by the afternoon. They travelled with sandwiches, cake and a primus stove and stopped at least twice on the roadside on the way down for breaks. Unusually for those times both Elsie and Cecil drove the car which we think was a new Rover 12. Interestingly my Aunt says they moved around the area staying only for 2 or 3 nights in a B & B and only for 1 week but Elsie and Cecil always stayed in posh hotels and usually had a 2 week holiday! As I think the film shows Elsie was a fun loving lady she is the one at the beginning of the film climbing down between rocks with a fur stole around her neck and with very prominent teeth. My Uncle Cecil was usually filming but when seen on the film often had a pipe. Unfortunately we have no clear date for the films but the family seem to feel that they were taken in the early to mid-1930s.

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SOME EARLY CORNISH EXPERIENCES IN EASTERN AUSTRALIA Chris Dunkerley, a Cornish bard (Kevrenor) and secretary of the Cornish Association of New South Wales, investigates the Cornish history of Eastern Australia

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hen the story of the Cornish people in Australia is told, it is often only possible to give time or attention to the classic Cornish mining story –particularly the great mining migration destinations of southern and western Australia. The role that the Cornish miners and their deepmining and engineering expertise played in saving the Colony of South Australia from bankruptcy cannot be underplayed - with early settlements near to Adelaide at Glen Osmond and Callington, huge immigration to The Burra, the Copper Triangle (incl. Australia’s true Little Cornwall at Moonta) - plus the Broken Hill and even Western Australia’s Goldfield’s experiences that grew out of that rich vein of Cornish settlement and achievement - all well-documented No-one should overlook the very significant Cornish settlement within central Victoria - with Ballarat and Bendigo vying with each other and South Africa for the mantle of the largest Cornish settlements in the southern hemisphere; and with other key centres like Maldon and Castlemaine, all having their story to tell. These are stories that my own ancestors contributed to, so I know them well. I recommend that you all explore them at another time.

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here are other stories to tell today along the Pacific side of the Australian continent, not only those of other mining immigrants, but of farmers, tradesmen and women, artisans, and even (dare well tell) convicts, and that is what I will be exploring with you.

Those coming the 12,000+ nautical miles from Cornwall often faced adversity that made it hit or miss whether they would arrive let alone prosper. They settled in various places and with hard work, perseverance, often a strong faith, with luck or divine provenance they made something of themselves, leaving a legacy for those places, and for their families and 14

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New South Wales – the where and how Cornish experiences in Australia started

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early half a century before serious European settlement in the recognised “Cornish heartland” colonies of South Australia or Victoria and their huge mining areas, Cornish people walked the new land, starting from ‘day one’ (221 years ago) on 26 January 1788 in Sydney Cove - sailors, marines, and even a few convicts from Cornwall. Having sailed 12,700 seas miles and crossed the Indian Ocean from southern Africa, and then the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica, they arrived 8 months after leaving Portsmouth, UK. If we do not count Cornish sailors who were undoubtedly among the crews of earlier English explorers, particularly Captain Cook’s Endeavour, these few who came with our first British Governor, Arthur Phillip, on the First Fleet, were the start of a Cornish presence in Australia.

Among them were the well documented like Governor King, Captain Piper, Major Grose, and outside of the administration, convict farmer James Ruse. They included devout Wesleyans or Bible Christians as well as the first rogues and vagabonds that are scattered within the Cornish names in Australia’s history.

James Ruse, born at Lawhitton near Launceston, in Cornwall in 1759, was a rare but not unknown type of Cornish settler, the convict. Granted land to farm, after he had almost single-handedly shown the way from starvation for the colony through agriculture on lands well away from the sandstone and sandy coastal fringe, Ruse goes down in history as the first ‘farmer and husbandman’ despite dying poor in 1837 (see Janice Ruse Israel, My Mother Reared Me Tenderley: The Life of James Ruse, Possum, Eastwood NSW, 1998). In 1782 he was tried at Bodmin Assizes and sentenced to death for ‘burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling house of Thomas Olive and stealing thereout 2 silver watches, value 5 pounds.’ He was reprieved and sentenced to transportation for seven years.

He was sent on the Scarborough, one of the First Fleet, and arrived in New South Wales in January 1788.

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ike the other First Fleet convicts, Ruse would have worked at first under the direction of Governor Arthur Phillip and his subordinates in establishing the rudiments of a new colony at Sydney Cove. But as the supplies the First Fleet had brought with them dwindled, it became vital that the colony should learn to grow its own food. In November 1788 Phillip selected Ruse to go to Parramatta, then called Rose Hill, west of Sydney Town, to try his hand at farming (see http://www.eurekacouncil.com.au/5Australia-History/History-Pages/1788james_ruse.htm).

Governor Phillip allocated Ruse one and a half acres of already cleared ground and assisted in clearing a further five acres. He was to be given two sows and six hens and was to be fed and clothed from the public store for 15 months. In return, if he was successful, he was to be granted 30 acres.

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fter 15 months Ruse announced that he and his wife Elizabeth (he married her in 1790) were now self-sufficient in food, and their farm formed the nucleus of a small community of farmers who, while technically still convicts, enjoyed considerable freedom and later had other convicts assigned to work for them. After Ruse's sentence expired in 1792, the title of his land was deeded to him, the first land grant in the colony. In 1794 Ruse moved further out, to the Hawkesbury River area, and became a fairly successful farmer for some time and he and Elizabeth raised three children. Later, however, he was wiped out by flooding (always the risk of farming in the Hawkesbury) and had to find work as a seaman. He was heavily in debt by then and only the hard work of his wife saved him from bankruptcy. From 1828 he was employed as an overseer by a landowner at Minto, south of Sydney. He died at Campbelltown in September 1837. Ruse's gravestone, which he carved himself, reads:

‘Sacred to the memory of James Ruse who departed this life Sep 5 in the year of Houre Lord 1837. Natef of Cornwell and arrived in this coleney by the Forst Fleet, aged 77. My mother reread me tenderley, With me she took much paines, And when I arrived in this coelney, I sowd the forst grains, And now with my heavenly father, I hope for ever to remain’.

The memory of James Ruse is perpetuated in the naming of a number of key locations in Sydney.

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everal early British Governors had Cornish connections, including the notorious William Bligh (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame). Bligh had Cornish roots being born in St. Tudy before going to sea at 7 years of age. His ill-considered approach to governing a fledgling colony ended in the infamous ‘Rum Rebellion” which brought to an end the basic ‘penal settlement’ era of New South Wales. In the new ‘colony-building’ era of the Scot Lachlan Macquarie coming in as Governor, one of the driving forces of the burgeoning sheep and fine wool industry in Australia was John Macarthur’s wife Elizabeth Macarthur (nee Veale), born on the Devon-Cornwall border from a Cornish Veale family.

It is the competency, independence, and vision of such people of Cornish stock as James and Elizabeth and people at all levels of society that anchored the fledgling colony of NSW and made it inevitable that the building of a nation would one day occur.

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Tasmania

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nother early settled area of Australia was the colony of Tasmania, which was at first called Van Diemens Land. In 1798 explorers Bass & Flinders in a very small boat, which they sailed down the east coast from Sydney Town, discovered that Van Dieman’s Land is an island. They also discovered a safe anchorage in the north of the island, which was named by Governor Hunter, Port Dalrymple. In the south, what was to become the capital, Hobart, was founded in 1803 by Lt John Bowen, sent by Governor Philip Gidley King.

King was born in 1758 in Launceston, Cornwall. So it was little to wonder at when Yorktown, started in the north in 1804, was renamed ‘Launceston’ in his honour, the river in which it stands the ‘Tamar’, and the administrative sub-division ‘Cornwall’. In 1856 self-government came to the island, which was re-named Tasmania after explorer Abel Tasman. Tasmania was to become a place firstly for Cornish farmers to make a new life, but later miners flocked to the tin mines of the central plateau.

The Cornish move west in NSW After 25 years had passed from the Colony of New South Wales being founded at Port Jackson (and with the early settlements being locked into regular famine and then relative but limited prosperity on the Pacific coastal plain) a way was found in 1813 over the rugged Blue Mountains barrier, leading quickly in 1817 to the establishment of the town of Bathurst on the Macquarie River.

The economic conditions in Cornwall in the 1820s produced "Agricultural Distress" as reported in the West Briton of March 1822. In these conditions, it is little wonder that William Tom Senior, his wife Ann, daughter Mary, sons John and James left Cornwall in 1823 for Sydney Town. Near the end of the voyage, Ann bore another son, William Tom Junior, of whom we will hear later. Hardy people that they were, they walked across the Blue Mountains to the west, looking for land for which to lodge a Grant application. No covered wagons but if they were lucky a lumbering bullock-dray to walk beside.

Cornish Settlement/Byng For many years settlement was banned to the west of the Macquarie River (the Western District) but when the ban was lifted and land was released for selection in 1829 a small group of Cornish farmers were among the first to settle at a place in a then relatively well watered valley. Tom and his family were early in taking advantage of the decision. In 1830, they left Tarana to the east, and chose 640 acres at the place where Lewis Ponds Creek is joined by Sheep Station Creek; they called their property Springfield. Less than two years later, they had constructed a lath and plaster house with five rooms, built well up a hill overlooking Sheep Station Creek.

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Summer 2012 Tom very soon had the nearby company of other Cornishmen - George Hawke, John Glasson and his brother and others with recognisable surnames such as Lane, Grenfell, Pearse, Thomas, Oates and Paull.

Two in particular will come into our story for the moment, George Hawke and John Glasson. It is no surprise to find that this area became known as the Cornish Settlement.

Among the settlers was George Hawke, who born in St Eval Parish on 2 October 1802 at his father's farm Bedruthan. After a period as a wool stapler George decided to emigrate to Australia. He eventually left Plymouth behind on 16 June 1828 and arrived in Sydney on 15 November. Before leaving Cornwall, George Hawke had become acquainted with William Tom's friends in Blisland. He had letters of introduction from these Blisland friends to both Mr Tom and his brother-in-law William Lane. After arriving in Sydney his journey finally took him to the residence of William Tom at Cornish Settlement where he slept a night and then went to stay with William Lane who lived nearby.

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t was agreed that George would be a domestic teacher to the two families and he held this position for a year; when George bought the farm Pendarves from John. He had found a friend in John Glasson and, both being single, he went to live with him at Bookannon. Their cattle ran together and they carried on dairying together to make butter and cheese for sale, and George grew some wheat for sale on his own farm. He now thought he had the prospect of supporting a wife and cast his mind back to his cousin Jane. John Glasson advised him to go to Cornwall after writing to her of his intentions. She agreed, though wisely with an imposed limit of two years. The ship went first to New Zealand but it went on the rocks, and he finally made it to Plymouth on 8 October 1834, well over a year since he had started.

It is no wonder then that George cleared Customs quickly and hurried to Bedruthan at St Columb, to find that Jane was at his father's house. They were married there on 3 March 1835. They departed for Sydney on the Florentine on 4 April 1835, having a very pleasant trip - arriving on 4 August. George observed that there were bush fires burning and he knew this meant drought was on the land and this condition lasted until May 1839. For our people now with our deeply seared knowledge of Australia, we know the meaning of five years or more of drought. What a contrast for Jane from the green fields of Cornwall!

Before going to Cornwall, George Hawke was convinced that horticulture was going to have a future in the ‘Western District’ from his observation of the country, its soil and the location of their Cornish Settlement. Despite losing thousands of cuttings and plants of hawthorn, and fruit trees, he eventually introduced haws, planted out as miles of ‘fencing’ - and some still thrive. He brought in twenty apple trees having one year's growth, plus a lot of apple, cherry and plum suckers. Foresight that saw the Blue Mountains and western slopes with beautiful apple and cherry orchards and with peaches, apricots and other fruit. A wonderful legacy!

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he story is far from complete since there was copper in the hills around these Cornish folk. In January 1849 copper was discovered near Sheep Station Creek, John Glasson and Richard Lane employed a ‘mine captain’ and the mining history began. Working on the tribute system 18 miners were employed and Cornish Settlement’s population rose to over 200. The Cornish Settlement became connected to small scale copper mining and smelting in the valley and nearby at Caranggara for 50 years - however reverting to purely pastoral lands after the 1930’s. It was surveyed as a town in 1881, renamed Byng, but the town site never prospered. Underlying all their community activities was their firm religious faith, based on strict Wesleyan Methodist principles, encouraged by the work of 'Pastor' William Tom as their local lay-preacher. His first services were held on a rock outcrop at the top of a ridge overlooking the valley, known as Bethel Rock. Tom then held services of worship in his house once it was completed, and until a small Wesleyan Chapel was constructed and opened in 1842 - the first west of Bathurst (the site can still be seen). The present day Chapel was erected in 1872 and dedicated in 1873.

Ophir and the discovery of gold And there was gold. Yes, they were involved in that find also! In the autumn of 1851, a group comprising the family of Mr Tom are assembled in the front room of their home in Cornish Settlement, watching a visitor recently returned from, where? - the Californian goldfields - putting together a strange device which he demonstrated by rocking it with a cradle-like motion. Soon afterwards, a party of four men set out from the Tom house; two are sons of William Tom (William Jnr and James), one is the visitor (Edward Hammond Hargraves) and the other is local John Hardman Australia Lister. They have heavily-laden pack-horses. After a difficult time, they returned disappointed from their week's search which was for gold, but the cradle (the strange device) had not helped them. Hargraves, who had set them up with the knowledge of using a panning dish and the cradle, took his leave and set out for other places.

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little later, the Tom sons and Lister set out again and this time they actually found gold only eleven miles from their home. As Glasson records, ‘And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold’ (1 Kings, 9-28). William Tom Snr was going to Sydney and he took the 4 oz. of gold and handed it to Mr Hargraves. William Jnr and James Tom did not hear further from Mr Hargraves.

They wrote again but no reply came. A paragraph appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 15 May 1851 stating that Hargraves had found the first payable gold in Australia at Ophir near Orange. The two Tom men and Lister were said to be Hargraves' associates. After many more years of disappointment at the lack of recognition of their find, a Select Committee of the NSW Legislative Assembly was appointed on 25 August 1891 ‘with power to send for persons and papers, to inquire into and report upon the claims (if any) of William Tom, James Tom, and J.H.A. Lister for remuneration as the first discoverers of gold in Australia’.

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Summer 2012 The Select Committee submitted their agreed Report to the Legislative Assembly and it was ordered to be printed on 2 September 1891. It reads as follows: ‘Your Committee having carefully considered the Report referred to them, find as follows:That although Mr. E.H. Hargraves is entitled to the credit of having taught the claimants, Messrs.

W. and J. Tom and Lister, the use of the dish and cradle, and otherwise the proper methods of searching for gold, which his then recent visit to the Californian gold-fields enabled him to do, your Committee are satisfied that Messrs. Tom and Lister were undoubtedly the first discoverers of gold obtained in Australia in payable quantity’ .

Legacy of the Cornish Settlement

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eorge Hawke and his descendants are buried in Byng Church Cemetery, and indeed descendents still live in the beautifully restored Pendarves, and at Bookanon (1842). Many other descendents of the valley’s early settlers are buried there and are scattered around NSW, including current members of the Cornish Association of NSW. The roads are still lined with Hawthorn bushes. There is little left of the mining era, or of the lesser dwellings, but the Cornish still live there and farm and the Cornish still visit to marry in the chapel, to be buried in the cemetery, or mainly to see the heritage. In 1998 the late Pat Lay in her book, One and All, The Cornish in NSW, makes the point that: ‘Cornish immigrants to New South Wales last century established and maintained recognisable and cohesive groups”. “There were several factors causing them to do this: their sense of Cornish identity (and their feelings of being different from English and Irish settlers), chain migration and intermarriage within the Cornish community in NSW, the shared job skills of farming, mining, and trades (and in some cases because of specific recruitment), bonding on the long voyage by sailing ship, and their involvement in certain community activities such as religion, trade unions, lodges and friendly societies, and in politics’.

The Cornish Settlement in the valley at Byng retains its Cornish ‘memory’ to this day, some 180+ years later. Original families still have descendents in the valley or in nearby towns. Many families elsewhere of Cornish descent have had Cornish Settlement-linked people marry into their line, and memories of those earlier times have persisted. In 1975 members of the newly formed Cornish Association of Sydney were contacted by senior members of the Byng community after Bard Bert Cowls was on TV. That started a long and active association that led to restoration of the chapel through a Bi-Centennial Grant in 1986-88. An application for funds was supported by the Byng Church Trust and the CANSW. This restoration, done faithfully with advice by an expert heritage architect of Cornish descent, Rod Climo, and with lots of local craftsmen and local hard work, brought the 1872 church building back to active use, restored to its late 19th century appearance. It was re-dedicated in 1988 with nearly 300 in attendance. Since then the chapel and its cemetery have been the focus of local tourism and family history research, actively used for weddings and periodic services.

This article is based on a talk presented at the 15th Gathering of Cornish Cousins in Grass Valley, California in July 2009

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How Cornwall Gave Britannia Her Name Bill Curnow

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ave you ever felt thunderstruck? Lightning flashed when I picked up a copy of Mike Ashley’s book A Brief History of British Kings & Queens and read a statement that struck me as quite remarkable: “Britain was known to the Greeks as the Tin, or Pretanic, Isles, from whence the name Britain comes.” Is it truly possible that tin, the great mineral treasure of our tiny peninsula called Cornwall, resulted in the very name by which we all know Great Britain? Some serious digging was needed to get to the origin of Britannia’s name and the role tin played in the ancient world.

As a Latin student of long ago, I learned that Britannia was Rome’s name for its remote colony on the large island west of Gaul. The Romans certainly knew about Cornish tin from the early years of their occupation of the island. In his military journal Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) described Britannia as “the place where tin is found” (nascitur ibi plumbum album). They maintained no permanent presence in Cornwall, but a tin ingot from the Roman period dredged up from the harbor at Falmouth is part of the archeological record confirming their commerce with the Celts.

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aesar’s words beg a key question: Why was the tin found at Britannia’s southwestern tip important enough to get the attention of a great general and leader of the Roman empire? Tin was in fact as strategic a metal in his time as uranium is in our modern world. Copper and tin were the essential elements required to manufacture the alloy that gave its name to a seminal era of human history, the Bronze Age. Caesar lived in the subsequent Iron Age, when bronze was already well established technology.

If Britain was borrowed from Britannia, what was the origin of the Latin name? The Oxford English Dictionary says it came from the Greek word Brettanoi (), while many other authorities say it was Prettanoi (). The letter P easily mutates to B, and that’s apparently how the Romans heard it when their Greek rivals spoke. Now we must wonder whether the Greek name Prettanoi stems from somebody else’s earlier word with tin as its root meaning. Was it a name already in use when the Greek explorer Pytheas made his epic 4th century BC voyage westward through the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibralter), then north to the island where he met Cornish tin merchants?

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s early as 1676, a Cambridge scholar named Ayllet Sammes suggested that the name Britannia could be traced back to the Phoenician word Baratanac or Barat-anac. Other British scholars repeated his thought during the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1823 the renowned Encyclopedia Britannica lent its support to the idea. An 1891 edition of the respected U.S. periodical Scientific American restated the theory and said, “It is impossible to fix the date at which the export trade in tin was commenced from the British Islands, but it is certain that it existed and was controlled by the Phoenicians when Herodatus wrote his history, 450 B.C.” Most considered the origin to be Phoenician, but others claimed that Baratanac was derived from the Hebrew language.

This is a good point to pause and make two observations: First, it is certainly true that countries were often named for the resources that first attracted visitors to their shores. Good examples include the Ivory Coast, the Gold Coast, and the Spice Islands. It would not be surprising if ancient voyagers called Cornwall’s island home the Land of Tin if tin was their reason for visiting such a remote place at the edge of the ancient world.

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he second observation is that the Bronze Age had a major impact in the region of Asia we call the Near East. One need look no further than the Bible for proof that tin was well known there.

The Old Testament mentions tin at least five times, with three references in the book of Ezekiel written in the late 6th century BC: “Tarshish was your merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for your wares.” (Ezekiel 27:12) Tin was well known in the ancient lands of the Mediterranean, and Tarshish may have been a town in southern Spain where traders dealt in tin produced elsewhere on the Iberian peninsula or even in Cornwall.

We have traced the name Britain as far back in time and space as Phoenicia, a land located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, including modern Lebanon as well as the Biblical land of Caanan. Is it possible to push back to an even earlier origin? What was the most ancient name by which tin was known?

Image: Jim Herd

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odern authorities on ancient Near Eastern languages still debate the precise derivation of Baratanac, and various words were used for tin at different times and places. The Hebrews, close neighbors of the Phoenicians, called the metal either anak or bedil, the latter being the rather imprecise word used in Ezekiel. Those Mediterranean people may have learned about tin from earlier civilizations farther east, possibly from the kingdoms of Mesopotamia lying in the “cradle of civilization” between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers where modern Iraq is located. It was in one of those lands, Sumer, that the Bronze Age originated in the 4th millennium BC. Sumer was conquered by Akkadia, where tin was called annaku, and that early word echoes in the Hebrew anak. Tin was known by words akin to anak in the Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Armenian, and even Old Hindic languages. Moreover, framing the Phoenician word as Barat-anac emphasizes the similarity of the last four letters to words for tin from those other ancient languages. It seems to be a match.

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s the Bronze Age progressed and moved outward from Mesopotamia, the names by which people called the metal began to proliferate. Various words may have arisen because the ancient world had no single dominant tin supplier whose name might have become a “trademark” for the metal. Another possibility, suggested by Near Eastern archaeometallurgy scholar James D. Muhly, is that tin may have had an image problem, not as unique in appearance as other more charismatic metals such as copper and gold. The word anak, perhaps originating with the very people who first learned how to make bronze, persisted for a time and then began to be replaced by other terms. People often knew tin by words as vague and imprecise as those used by Caesar, who called it “white lead” (plumbum album). The Greek word for the metal was Cassiteros () from which the tin bearing mineral Cassiterite got its name. Chances are that neither Romans nor Greeks realized “tin” might be hidden within the very names they borrowed to identify the distant island where they journeyed to secure supplies of the metal.

In the Kernewek language of Cornwall, tin was called sten, a name likely borrowed from the late Latin word stannum that also gave us the Sn symbol by which chemists know the metal, the 50th element of the periodic table. And what about the origin of our own word tin? It is one of those humble nouns of Germanic origin that the Angles and Saxons brought with them when they came to Britain, the Land of Cornish Tin.

---------The author: Bill Curnow is a 3rd generation Cornish-American whose ancestors emigrated to the anthracite coal region of northeastern Pennsylvania not long after the American Civil War. He has been an active Cornish genealogist for most of his adult life, with increasing emphasis since retirement from a globe hopping career in the chemical industry. He is an amateur historian writing on topics ranging widely from the history of an 18th century iron furnace at Cornwall, Pennsylvania to his present article on the ancient link between Cornish tin and the name Britain. A past officer of the Cornish American Heritage Society, he has been a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh since 2003.

His Bardic name is Towednack in honor of the parish on the outskirts of St. Ives where his branch of the Curnow clan put down roots more than four centuries ago.

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Summer 2012

Mining History Down Under

by Greg Drew

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he first metal mine in Australia, Wheal Gawler at Glen Osmond, commenced operations in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges on the outskirts of Adelaide 1841. However it was the mining of copper ores at Kapunda (1844) and Burra (1845), which aroused widespread interest in metal mining in South Australia and caused the first major decentralisation from Adelaide. Cornish miners and their families poured into South Australia to take part in the great copper boom. They brought with them their mining expertise to help extract the rich ore that gave South Australia the title of The Copper Kingdom by virtue of mines of world significance.

South Australia’s importance as a copper producer was maintained with further discoveries at Wallaroo (1859) and Moonta (1861). These mines were on large, rich deposits and were worked continuously for more than 60 years. During the 1860s and 1870s, many smaller mines producing copper, gold, lead and silver were established throughout the Mount Lofty and Flinders Ranges.

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oday the importance of Australia's mining heritage and the contribution made by mining to the country’s economic development is well recognised. From the outset, mining has provided employment, shaped the landscape, given rise to many towns, built much of our transport network smelters and ports, and contributed to our culture, education, religion and humour.

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‘IThese do notmines claim to know were onthe answer to large, rich everything deposits but, unlike and were other hon. worked Members, continuousI am stupid ly for more enough than 60to have yearsa try.’

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The Australian Mining History Association was formed in 1995 to foster the exchange of information about our mining past and now has more than 230 members. The Association studies and celebrates various aspects of Australia's mining past whether this is associated with mining archaeology, heritage and preservation, and transport or the social and economic aspects of mining. The Association holds an annual meeting in sites of historical mining interest, publishes a scholarly journal, quarterly newsletter and website, and provides a forum for discussion of the history of mining in Australia.

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he 17th Annual Conference of the AMHA was held in the German township of Hahndorf, South Australia from 14-17, September 2011 and attracted a record attendance of almost 100 people including visitors from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan, Alaska and the USA. Surrounding Hahndorf, which is located just 30 minutes from the centre of Adelaide in the beautiful Adelaide Hills, is the site of some of Australia’s earliest mining activity. This includes historic gold, copper and silver-lead mines, and mining townships. In addition there are historic brickworks, two operating metal mines and one of Australia’s largest mine rehabilitation projects.

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he Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges which stretch from the southernmost point of the Fleurieu Peninsula northwards for over 300km and are centred on the largest town in the area, Mount Barker, which has a population of around 29,000 and is one of Australia's fastest growing towns. It was amongst the first areas of South Australia to be settled by Europeans and a number of towns in the Hills were started as German settlements. The centrepiece of the Adelaide Hills is, however, Hahndorf - the oldest surviving German settlement in Australia.

The conference theme was Australia’s Earliest Mining Era which refers to the first era of metal mining in Australia which took place in the Mount Lofty Ranges in the period 1841-1851. This was the decade prior to the discovery of gold in the eastern States when virtually all of the metalliferous mines in Australia were located in South Australia and whose population grew, as a result, from 15,000 in 1841 to 64,000 in 1851.

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hese developments came at a crucial time in the history of South Australia; in the early 1840s the newly created colony was on the verge of bankruptcy and was saved from collapse by the mining boom. These mineral deposits, the first exploited less than five years after first settlement of the Colony, had a profound effect on settlement. They brought about a major influx of capital and immigrants into the Colony after the depression of the early 1840s and provided employment for a large number of people. Land was surveyed for mineral tenements, mining townships and agricultural purposes. Basic road networks were established during this period to cart ore to Port Adelaide for shipment to Wales and also deliver heavy machinery to the mines.

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‘I doAdelaide not claim The to know the Hills are part answer to of the Mount everything Lofty Ranges but, whichunlike stretch other hon. from the Members, I southernmost am pointstupid of the enough Fleurieu to have a try.’

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hirty papers were presented during the conference and included two keynote speakers of international standing: Professor Geoffrey Blainey, one of Australia's most eminent historians who spoke on the growth of Australian copper mining and Professor Philip Payton, an expert on Cornish migration who discussed the impact of the Cornish in the Mount Lofty Ranges. Numerous sites of historic mining interest throughout the Adelaide Hills were visited during the conference, allowing delegates a firsthand experience of the mining heritage of the area. Short tours were spread through the four days of sessions and included: Callington Township and Bremer Mine The Bremer Mine was the largest mine in the Kanmantoo district up to 1900, producing over 30,000t of copper ore from 1849-1875. The township of Callington was laid out adjacent to the mine in 1850 and a number of buildings of the mining era survive, including the 1881 Police Station and cells Jupiter Creek Diggings Gold was discovered near Echunga, 16km from Adelaide, in 1852, but could not halt a general exodus to the Victorian Goldfields. In 1868, a small rush took place at Jupiter Creek and mining was carried out periodically until the 1960s. A self-guided walking trail was established in 1984.

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Summer 2012

Littlehampton Brickworks The brickworks were established in 1892 to produce high quality firebricks for use in smelting works and foundries from white clay mined from an adjacent quarry. Today it produces specialty bricks and pavers and two of the original kilns survive.

Brukunga Mine The mine was worked for pyrite from 1955 to 1972 which was used in the production of sulphuric acid and superphosphate fertiliser. A lime neutralisation plant was commissioned in 1980 to treat acid water seeping from the open cut and tailings dump.

Three full day excursions were conducted to:

Willunga Township and Slate Quarries Slate was discovered in the hills near Willunga in 1840 and led to the development of a thriving industry. It was quarried by Cornish miners and carted to Port Willunga, where it was shipped for use in the building industry. The industry declined after the 1890s but many historic buildings within Willunga featuring the use of slate still stand. The tour included the Slate Museum and Trail and a visit to the historic Bangor Quarry.

Mylor to Hallett Cove The discovery of silver near Mylor in 1868 sparked a small rush which led to the commencement of the Almanda Mine. A self-guided trail explores the mine ruins and workings. The Worthing Mine at Hallett Cove was worked briefly in the early 1850s and its Cornish enginehouse is the oldest remaining in Australia.

Nearby in the steep valley are several historic stone quarries.

Kanmantoo-Strathalbyn Mining District Copper was discovered by two Cornish miners near Kanmantoo in 1845 and two groups jointly purchased the Mt Barker Special Mineral Survey of 20,000 acres.

Mining commenced at Kanmantoo in 1846 and by1850 numerous mines had been established in the area most named after famous Cornish mines. The most important mines were Kanmantoo, Paringa and Bremer. The Kanmantoo Mine was reworked from 1970-1976 and a new mining operation commenced in 2011. Silver-lead ore was discovered south of the Kanmantoo area in the late 1850s resulting in numerous prospects and small mines the most significant of which were Wheal Ellen and the Aclare Mine. The Angas Mine commenced operations on a newly discovered zinc deposit in 2008.

Further information on the AMHA is available on the Association’s website at http://www.mininghistory.asn.au/ The website also has feature pages on Australia’s mininghistory and heritage.

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Learning Officer Chloe Phillips shares an update on the work of the Cornwall Record Office I t’s been another busy few months at Cornwall Record Office, especially as we’ve been trialling new opening hours.

The Enys project, which began in 2010, is drawing to a close, although there’s still a school’s resource based around the Cornish language (working with MAGA, the Cornish Language Partnership) and an exhibition about the family at Penryn museum to come.

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nce again, the CRO had a sprinkling of stardust. I took part in filming for the US version of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ at the Morrab Library in Penzance. After much mystery, the star subject turned out to be Emmy and Golden Globe award winning actress, Edie Falco, star of The Sopranos and Nurse Jackie. I was filmed for over two hours revealing parts of her Cornish ancestry to her, although I’m sworn to secrecy! The series should air in Britain later this year.

I also led four family learning outreach workshops, in Bude, Launceston, Redruth and Helston, complete with Captain Jack Sparrow! Based on a document in our collection revealing Avery the pirate’s hidden treasure, children were invited to train as pirates by practising their walks, making up a name, designing a treasure map and pirate flag – and demonstrating their skills to Captain Jack himself.

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ou may have heard that we are hoping – with partner organisations – to have a new building in the foreseeable future. Stay tuned for updates on where this might be!

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Summer 2012

‘Till death do us part,...’

The Second part of the 19th Century Murder Case of James Holman

By Cedric Appleby ….The prisoner was feeling isolated away from the surroundings of his own home. Although he was under suspicion for a most brutal murder of his wife the atmosphere seemed to be friendly even sympathetic but he wanted visits from friends. The innkeeper offered to bring anyone he wished to see within a ten mile radius… … Holman did request to see Richard Seymour Bryant, mine agent, who in 1856 was resident in Praze and, no doubt, was there in 1853. He also wanted to see Mr. Thomas Symons who was probably the grocer and ironmonger listed in Kelly's Directory as of Praze in 1856. The two men arrived just after eight o'clock that Monday morning. Constable Phillip Orchard had left about two hours before leaving Constable Webster in charge of the prisoner.

Seymour Bryant and Thomas Symons came to the door of the room and Holman asked them to come in. The Constable left the room, either at the request of the visitors or Holman himself, and stood guard outside the closed door. In the trial the Constable claimed not to have heard anything that was said.

Thomas Symons spoke first; “James, we understand that you have something to relate to us respecting the death of your wife Philippa.”

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olman replied that he had and it was on his mind “that I will tell you the whole truth.”

Captain Bryant, who was the Foreman of the Coroner's Jury soon to hear the case, cautioned the prisoner: “Previous to your doing so, it is necessary that we should tell you that anything you say will be taken as evidence either against or for you as the case may be.” He pointed out that they did not wish to hear anything.

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“Previous to your doing so, it is necessary that we should tell you that anything you say will be taken as evidence either against or for you as the case may be.”

Summer 2012 Holman then made a statement and the two men went out to reduce that statement to writing. They returned to the room and the statement was read out to the prisoner and he agreed to it sentence by sentence. This statement was later read to the court by the judge at the trial.

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went to Gwinear in the morning, and returned about nine in the evening. On going into my house,I asked “Where are you, Philippa?”and she made answer and said, “what is that to you.”

She then rose up, and I saw what state she was in, that she was drunk, as I had often seen her before. She threw the fire-hook at me, but it did not strike me. I then gave her a push and she fell in on the brandis and made the wound in her forehead. I then went out to see whether the bullocks had any meat or not. On my returning I found her in the chimney, as stated by Roberts. I found a teacup on the table partly filled, I believe with brandy, which I threw out before the door. I found the hatchet, and on seeing blood about the handle, I thought if that were found I should be accused of murder, and I threw the hatchet into the pump about seven o'clock the following morning. I had not said anything about Philippa's getting drunk, to any person but Mr. Trewhella; that was about a month since. I did not murder her. This is the truth, and all I can say about the matter.

The Royal Cornwall Gazette headlined the account of the resumed inquest on the 2nd. January 1854(a Tuesday) as THE SUPPOSED MURDER AT CROWAN. The surgeons, Mr. Gurney and Mr. Hutchinson, on examination of the body, concluded that the deceased had come by her death through violence, fractures apparent on the left temple, a depression on the brain caused by severe and repeated blows by a blunt instrument such as the pull end of a hatchet. They would not have known of the discovery of the hatchet before they made their examination of the body.

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Holman, being in custody in the house, does not seem to have attended the inquest.

he inquest jury would have consisted of men of some standing in the community as there was a property qualification. Richard Seymour Bryant, Mine Agent was foreman of this jury and as shown above was approached by Holman and would have known what was in the statement that Holman had made at the Cornish Mount. Constable Philip Orchard was also a member and he, of course, had been very much involved. Edward Williams, farmer and overseer of Crowan, attended the inquest though may not have been a member of the jury. Henry Semmens the innkeeper of the Cornish Mount at which the inquest was probably held and where Holman had been kept in custody was also a member of the jury. Holman, being in custody in the house, does not seem to have attended the inquest. His statement may well have been made available but there was no mention of it. With the discovery of the murder weapon, which was established as belonging to Holman, and the surgeon's report with no evidence of anyone other than Holman being involved in his wife's death, a verdict of willful murder was returned by seventeen of the eighteen jurors.

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ne jury member inclined towards a verdict of manslaughter on the grounds that they had quarreled, and that he had killed her in a passion. James Holman was committed to stand trial at the next assizes. He would have had to appear before the magistrates to enter a Not Guilty plea but no record of his appearance comes to hand.

Holman would have been moved to the prison at Bodmin to await trial at the Assizes in the spring.

There was one process remaining which was that the Grand Jury would have to agree that a true bill for willful murder could be presented against Holman. The Grand Jury did the work of the present day Director of Public Prosecutions. If the Grand Jury felt that a prosecution would succeed on the evidence, Holman would go for trial.

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he Grand Jury consisted of leading residents of wealth and position in the County and the names of those who stood on it when it met in Bodmin at the Lent Assizes, March 1854, was like a roll call of the landed gentry of Cornwall. These were sworn in just before the criminal cases were heard.

The Foreman was Sir W.L.S. Trelawney Bart.

The other members were; Sir William Berkeley Call Bart.

Sir Coleman Rashleigh Bart.

Sir Joseph Sawle Graves Sawle Bart.

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The following magistrates answered to their names.

Lord Vivian, Richard Foster, W. Hext Esq.,H.M. St. Aubyn Esq., T. G. Graham Esq., J.F. Trist Esq., and the Revd. R. Buller.

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Nicholas Kendall Jr. Esq. Thomas Hext Esq. R. Coode Jr. Esq. John Tremayne Esq. James H. Messenger Esq. Sir Henry Onslow Bart.

Day P. Le Grice Esq. John King Lethbridge Esq. William Peel Esq. C.H.T. Hawkins Esq. W. Moorshead Esq. J.S. Enys Esq. Thomas Graves Sawle Esq. J. Davies Gilbert Esq. F.J. Hext.

R. G. Polwhele Esq. John Gwatkin Esq. William Braddon Esq. The following magistrates answered to their names.

Lord Vivian, Richard Foster, W. Hext Esq.,H.M. St. Aubyn Esq., T. G. Graham Esq., J.F. Trist Esq., and the Revd. R. Buller.

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James Holman, aged 31, was indicted for the willful murder of his wife Philippa Holman to which he pleaded NOT GUILTY.

he charge was delivered to the Grand Jury by Mr. Justice Erle who outlined the cases against the defendants appearing at the assizes. In regard to the case of James Holman, Mr. Erle pointed out that they should have no doubt that the crime was murder and that they should judge whether the accused could be reasonably judged guilty of that crime. It was a case of circumstantial evidence but they should note his conduct when the corpse was found and the way in which he gave notice of her death and “the language he used on that occasion.” They should pay particular attention to statements made by him “which led to further inquiry” and his statement about the hatchet which might have caused her death and the account of the death which he gave which, according to witnesses were untrue. If there is no reasonable doubt they were to “find a bill.”

The Grand Jury did conclude that the case should be tried and the case was heard on Saturday March 25th at Bodmin.

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James Holman, aged 31, was indicted for the willful murder of his wife Philippa Holman to which he pleaded NOT GUILTY. The case was heard before Mr. Baron Martin.

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he jury were named in the press as William Dingle (Foreman), Charles Bennetts, Joseph Body,William Martin, Josiah Wright, John Dingley Stephens, Nicholas Wenmouth, Richard Sarjent, William May, Henry Ivey, Abel Hicks and John Edy. In the case of Matthew Weeks for murder in 1844 on Bodmin Moor, the jury came from West Cornwall, as far away from the Bodmin area as possible, so it could have been concluded that the jury in this case came from East Cornwall. The counsel for the prosecution were Mr. Stock and Mr. Coleridge of the attorneys Messrs. Grylls and Hill. Holman was represented

by Mr. Collier and Mr. Kingdon of Messrs. Commins and Son, attorneys.

The witnesses were ordered to leave until called for.A large number of people both crowded the court and gathered outside but arrangements were made so that those who had business at the court were able to pass in and out.

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They were to give their utmost and careful attention to everything they heard, and “with that patience which the importance of this case demands.”

The defendant seemed to be fully aware of the charge against him and its dreadful seriousness, very downcast at the beginning but seemed to recover as time went on and listened attentively to the witnesses and made suggestions to his counsel who sat at a table underneath the dock.

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he local press stated that Holman looked older than the age of 31 and his height was about five feet nine inches. Although he was a strongly built man with a dark ruddy complexion and “resolute aspect” there was nothing in his countenance which would indicate a harsh or cruel disposition.

Opening the case for the prosecution Mr. Stock impressed upon the jury the seriousness of the crime.

He told them that this offence which they were to try was a most fearful one and in his view the most fearful one that a man should murder his wife. They were to give their utmost and careful attention to everything they heard, and “with that patience which the importance of this case demands.”

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He pointed out that, in fact, two lives were destroyed because the victim was in the seventh month of her pregnancy. From the speech it emerged that Holman had married Philippa in 1847 and she was the eighteen year old daughter of a respectable farmer.

The marriage was opposed by her family which felt that she was marrying beneath her station. Two children were mentioned and these were known to be, Margetta who was at the time of the trial six years old and Thomas four years old. Margetta was born in Sithney to which the family had gone soon after the marriage. Later they moved to How [Hoe] Downs in Gwinear where they were living in 1851 when James Holman travelled to South Wales as their circumstances were very poor.

Thomas must have been born at How Downs the previous year. Holman returned from Wales in about March 1853 and then moved into the small farm at Carne. Mr. Stock described it as “a very retired spot.”

Holman was described as a very reserved man about whom little was known in the locality of Carne.

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hilippa Holman was described as being seen more often and was industrious and virtuous. She did a great deal of the work as they did not keep a servant. The only time they did get outside help was at harvest time. In fact, she was last seen alive at five in the afternoon on the day of the murder, at work outside, and appeared to be in perfect health and spirits.

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r. Stock described how the body was discovered and the descriptions given by neighbours and what was said by the prisoner. He placed emphasis on what the defendant said about his wife previous to her death. He had denied that she was pregnant though he must have known that she was. He had spoken to others that she was failing in health. Counsel was showing that Holman was a liar. What followed seems to have been an attempt to establish a motive. Holman had, on the 1st December, a conversation with Philippa's sister Elizabeth Parkins during which “he told her that Philippa was failing and would die soon and he made repeated proposals to her to become his second wife.”

The prosecution was very anxious to show how unreliable any statements made by him at the time when the body of his wife was discovered. Neighbours had noticed that there was blood on his clothes but he had explained this by saying that, when he discovered his wife's body, he had lifted her up and this was how the blood had stained his clothes. Then, why did he replace the body in the same position in the fireplace?

Holman tried to account for blood stained clothes in the house by saying that these were ones on which the body had been laid. Yet any clothes that had been visible to the neighbours when they called had been washed and these blood stained clothes had been hidden by Holman before the neighbours came to the house.

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olman's behaviour was such as to evoke suspicion as when the victim's brother was denied access to the body by him. This was not only a lack of consideration for a close relative of his wife but must also have come from a fear that, if her brother saw the injuries, then he would be convinced that Holman had murdered her. The ways in which Holman described his wife were inconsistent. To her mother he had spoken greatly in her praise and said that he could not have had a better woman, to another he said she was given to drunkenness.

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Holman's behaviour was such as to evoke suspicion as when the victim's brother was denied access to the body by him.

Mr. Stock spoke of the most important evidence which established Holman's guilt, and that was the discovery of the murder weapon, which was the hatchet in his well and this was proved to have belonged to Holman.

The ways in which Holman accounted for the death of his wife showed inconsistencies. This would come out in evidence and much of it has already been dealt with above and this would be an important part of the prosecution case.

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He went out to feed cattle and when he came back found her dead.

Initially it would seem that Holman rushing out of the house to his neighbours and claiming that his wife was murdered would give the impression that she had been murdered by another person sometime before Holman arrived home. On the day after the murder he claimed that she had died in a fit. The final version, given when he was in custody at the Cornish Mount on the Sunday following the murder and following the nightmare, was that there was a quarrel; she was drunk and threw a fire hook at him which missed. He gave her a push and she fell on the brandis. He went out to feed cattle and when he came back found her dead.

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his was a confession as far as he claimed for the first time that he had a hand in his wife's death but the injuries which she suffered were not, according to the surgeons, consistent with his account of what happened. The view of the prosecution was that there was no evidence that she was ever intoxicated and no smell of alcohol on her mouth when examined. There was no evidence that anyone else had a reason to murder her and nothing was stolen.

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Finally, Mr. Stock submitted that “even if there was no proof of previous intention, where life had been destroyed by violent and repeated blows of a hatchet, it amounted to the crime of murder, unless it was shown by evidence that these blows were excited by great violence and provocation on the other side.” The prosecution then called witnesses, the first being Mr. John Redington who was a land-surveyor living in Breage who produced a plan of the premises at Carne. This included Holman's house, the house of William Roberts and the well where the hatchet was found. It seems that he did not include a plan of the interior of Carne Farm except that he gave details of the chimney where the body lay. The distance between Holman's house and that of William Roberts was given as 55 yards and that of John Williams as 169 yards.

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eighbours gave evidence and much of what they said in court has already been described. John and Christopher Roberts gave an account of how they encountered Holman running from his house.

Their father, William Roberts and Mary Roberts recounted the events when they went into Holman's house. William Roberts had known the Holman's for 12 to 14 months. Philippa was probably seen more. William had only been in Holman's house twice during the past year but they had seen Philippa frequently and confirmed that she was in good health right up to the day she died.

They had never seen her intoxicated and that she appeared to be pregnant. Elizabeth Williams, the wife of John Williams, confirmed this and she had seen the deceased on Christmas Day and she was in good health. Thomas Cory of Poldrouse found it difficult to have a chat with James Holman as he could with other neighbours but had been in their house some times and had seen his wife and had never seen any disagreement between them and “they lived comfortably together, as far as I know.”

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olman's well tended to dry up in the spring so both Holman and his wife came a number of times to his well for water. Cory's water was better than Holman's. Philippa was a “nice quiet woman as ever there was in the neighbourhood. Counsel asked him whether he ever saw her drunk.

“Drunk- No!,” was his emphatic reply. The next witnesses were from Philippa's family and, again, much of their evidence has already been dealt with. They did show a dislike for James Holman and this could be expected. John Parkins, the younger, Philippa Holman's brother, explained that, after four years of marriage, James Holman got into difficulties when they were in the parish of Sithney with their two children. He left his wife and children and went to Wales and spent 2 ½ years there.

The money which he did send home went to his own sister to be given to his wife. He never let her “have command of that money.” John Parkin believed that when Holman came home for a short visit he came “for money instead of with money.”He was in Wales for more than six months before any money came for his wife and on his visit he actually took a sovereign from the money which his wife had made from some pigs which she had fattened. At one stage she came to her father, crying because she had nothing to eat. On the other hand, John Parkins, her father, gave evidence that Holman came home twice if not three times. His journeys from Wales were probably by steamer to Hayle and John Parkins junior saw him there on one of his visits.

John Parkins Senr. gave evidence that he had met his son in law at Helston Market in late November 1853 and, at that and other meetings, Holman maintained that his wife was ill and unable to do her work. Holman denied that she was pregnant and that was the reason why she was not able to work. John Parkins Senr. said that she used to do her work well and “I dare say would again.”

It was then arranged that Holman would come again the following week and bring Philippa with him.

When he did come to the Parkin's house on the 1st December he came by himself to buy pigs and there were further enquiries about his wife's health which was, according to Holman, as always very bad. John Parkins Senr. must have wondered how he had managed without his wife's help but Holman explained that he had a boy to help him. John Parkins Senr. was informed that Philippa's health had declined much more since harvest. Margaret Parkins, Philippa's mother, repeated much of what Holman had alleged about Philippa's health. It was on this occasion that James Holman and Elizabeth Parkins, their 17 year old daughter were alone for a time. When Margaret Parkins gave evidence she said that Elizabeth came back alone and told her “something.”She did not say what this was but it may have been connected with the evidence later given to the court by Elizabeth herself.

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As they were doing so she held his hand and asked her again whether she could wait twelve months.

Apparently when Holman arrived they shook hands.

She spoke to him about Philippa and he said that she had been very poorly, and had been for some time. He told her mother that Philippa would not live long. After dinner Elizabeth went out into the field and Holman followed her. He put his arm round her and said “you shall be my next wife.” Elizabeth raised the obvious difficulty which was that Holman already had a wife. Holman's reply was that Philippa would not last long as she was failing fast. If she could wait twelve months for him then the way would be clear. His brother in law Thomas Trewhella who was getting old could not be expected to live much longer.

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e had married Holman's sister, Elizabeth, but had no children. No doubt, in Holman's mind was a legacy which would enable them to live in more comfortable circumstances. Holman expressed a wish to see Loe Bar as he was a stranger and had never seen it. Elizabeth agreed to walk down with him.

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As they were doing so she held his hand and asked her again whether she could wait twelve months.

She said, “Creeners often times live longest. She may live as long as you or I.” [A creener is dialect for one who is constantly complaining about illness]. Elizabeth did agree to wait the twelve months as she said, “in order to get rid of him.” Holman said, “You might die before me.”

Elizabeth had spoken of the tower of Gunwalloe Church which was not very far away and Holman suggested that they should get married there. He then asked whether she had been to sea and when she said “no” he said that after they were married he would take her for a spree in a steamer to Wales. Presumably this was the honeymoon. Under cross-examination Elizabeth stated that she had no desire to marry her sister's husband. “He was always bringing in every minute or two that she [Philippa Holman] would not live long.” The judge said that he did not take the conversation seriously. No doubt, all this would have implanted in the minds of the jury a reason why Holman would have wanted his wife dead.

The two constables next gave evidence and details of the searches of the house in which the murder was committed have already been given as well as the discovery of the hatchet in the well. Both constables spoke about the events at the Cornish Mount when Holman had a disturbing dream and then how a confession was made, written down and agreed by the prisoner. The statement which has already been quoted in full above was read by the judge. As his counsel was later to say, this was the only contribution made by Holman to the court. At most, he was only confessing to manslaughter and there was no mention of the use of the hatchet. The report of the surgeons was given next.

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ne of the surgeons, Mr. Gurney, died on the 2nd. March 1854 and a written statement was produced for the court by him and verified by Frederick Hill who conducted the prosecution, signature witnessed by Edward Williams, farmer and overseer of Crowan and the Coroner's signature was also verified. The same statement had been given at the inquest and was read by the Clerk of Arraigns. Mr. Gurney stated; I am a surgeon resident at Camborne; I made a post mortem examination on Tuesday 29th December last, for the purpose of giving evidence on this enquiry. I was assisted in the examination by Mr. Thomas Hutchinson, a surgeon also residing at Camborne.

I found that both hands were extensively burnt at the back in patches, and the backs of the fingers likewise. A bruise on the left wrist over the lower extremity of the ulna, and also a considerable bruise on the back of the left hand; which bruises from their appearance leave no doubt in my mind that they were caused before death.

An extensive burn on the right upper arm; both knees burnt; as also the right hip; two bruises on the left cheek; a transverse wound over the right eye- brow; a wound between the eye-brows longitudinal, about an inch and a half in length the nose abraded of skin to a point, as if from a slanting blow; the bone of the nose broken in pieces; a circular wound on the right side of the frontal bone close to the hair, about the size of a shilling; an incised wound over the centre of the frontal bone; on the left temple an extensive wound of the scalp which was stripped off the skull about the size of a five shilling piece, about an inch and a half wide and two inches long, as if the blow which caused it was struck downwards. On raising the perieranium (which was divided) and laying open the skull; the brain was seen protruding between the fractured bones over the left arbiter plate of the frontal bone, which with its superciliary ridge, was loose.

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The left half of the frontal bone smashed into several pieces; one large piece about the size of a crown

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he left half of the frontal bone smashed into several pieces; one large piece about the size of a crown- as also the anterior interior angle of the temporal bone; and several pieces of both bones driven inwards and the brain protruding between the fissures. The dura mater, or covering of the brain, was lacerated and the skull was considerably depressed.

The blows must have been severe and repeated, and caused by a blunt instrument. The temporal muscle a mass of bruised flesh and congulated blood, as also the surrounding cellular tissue. I don't consider it possible that the injuries sustained by the deceased could have been produced by off her legs on the ground, but I attribute them wholly to the fractured skull and depression and consider it was likely to have been caused by poll end of a hatchet, and by repeated blows.

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homas Hutchinson, his late colleague, added that that the body bore every appearance of a pregnant woman in her seventh month “but we did not open the body.” He confirmed everything that Mr. Gurney said having read his report. He pointed out that his conclusion that the injuries were made by the blunt end of hatchet were reached before the instrument was found and agreed that these injuries were made by repeated blows and not a fall.

All this created a very difficult task for the defence who did not call witnesses and Holman himself was excluded by law from entering the witness box. Evidence, which included reports of conversations and the words of Holman himself, Mr. Collier stated, were almost impossible to sift or contradict. This was the bulk of the evidence and the rest was circumstantial and juries have been misled by such evidence. The jury should remember, even though their feelings were excited by the evidence, that this was a man on trial for his life and they should pay great attention to his case. The victim did die at the hand of the prisoner but this did not mean that he was guilty of murder but rather manslaughter.

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here was no evidence of any premeditated plan on the part of the prisoner, no motives shown of revenge, of gain, of jealousy or any of those strong motives without which murder is never committed.' The picture that he could give was that the marriage was a comfortable one and there was real affection between the two. When he was in Wales he sent money regularly and came home from time to time. His wife had made no complaint to anyone else about ill treatment.

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His actions were not of a murderer. He went out saying his wife was murdered and called in witnesses.

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The idle stories that appeared in the prosecution evidence, which he detailed, showed that in scraping these together they had shown that they did not have a strong case. The only complaint that he had made against his wife was that she indulged in intoxicating liquor and he had only said this in his statement to the foreman of the inquest jury and to Trewhella. Trewhella could have given evidence confirming this and, though he had been seen in Bodmin, he was not a witness. Was he excluded because he could have confirmed Holman's statement about his wife's drinking habits? If Holman had wanted to get rid of his wife he could have done it slowly, using poison and this would not have been detected. When Holman came home, according to his evidence, his wife, having been drinking, used some intemperate language and then threw a fire hook at him.

In a moment of frenzy he struck at her and this was an action which he regrets. His actions were not of a murderer. He went out saying his wife was murdered and called in witnesses.

A murderer would have made away with the body. Mr. Collier said that Holman's conduct was not that of an innocent man. He knew that appearances were against him for his rash and unpremeditated act and had not the courage to tell the whole truth. That his wife was dead when he came in could not have been true.

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A first cousin of the prisoner, Tobias Ingram, had known him since he was born and had never known him to quarrel or fight.

ater he did make a confession but concealed certain things because he lacked moral courage but this did not make him a murderer. The greater part of that confession was true which was made out of a conviction that the truth ought to have been spoken. He had only been guilty of manslaughter and that all his conduct was consistent with that view. If they convicted him of manslaughter he would be subjected to transportation for life but if of murder, the man who stood before them would shortly cease to be a living and breathing being, would be called into the presence of his Maker. He trusted that they would carefully consider the case, and come to the conclusion which justice as well as mercy invite.

Character witnesses were called. A first cousin of the prisoner, Tobias Ingram, had known him since he was born and had never known him to quarrel or fight.

James Thomas, a farmer living ten miles away, had similarly found him peaceable with a good character from his youth up. Mr. Baron Martin now summed up.

The jury, he said, had to consider whether this was murder or manslaughter. Murder is the killing of a person with malice aforethought and a homicide might be reduced to manslaughter. He then read to them a definition of manslaughter,

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If death ensues from a sudden transport of passion or heat of blood, upon a reasonable provocation,and without malice, it is imputable to human infirmity, and the offence will be manslaughter; but it must be remembered that a person sheltering himself under this plea must make out circumstances of alleviation to the satisfaction of the jury unless they arise out of evidence against him as the law deems all homicide malicious, unless the contrary is proved.

He told them that they had to decide whether there was reasonable provocation, if there was they must convict him of manslaughter.

The judge read out the material parts of the evidence and commented on them and directed the jury to dismiss from their minds the evidence of many conversations with the prisoner and confine their attention to what took place on the 26th December 1853 and the week following that time. They must judge a man's motives by his conduct. He pointed out that no witnesses had seen Philippa Holman intoxicated or quarrelsome.

Part Three of Cornwall’s Holman Case in the next edition of Cornish Story Cornish Story Magazine

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The British Celtic Fringe - a Chinese Impression

By Xin Gong The Celtic civilization, in which Cornwall has always been an integral part of, is one of the most splendid civilizations in the West. It once existed when, on the other side of the world, the Chinese civilization prospered in East Asia. Both civilizations have made formidable contributions to the development of human societies. However, due to the irreconcilable distance between the two parts of the world they have developed largely in isolation, which naturally engenders curiosities between their peoples. This short article intends to promote dialogue between the people of these two civilizations, by offering a brief introduction to the Chinese views of the British Celtic Fringe, which covers roughly 200 years of modern history since the two civilizations made their enigmatic encounter with each other.

The Celts – Chinese impressions

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A brief look at ancient Chinese history would reveal that successive wars have been fought over the last two thousand years

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verall, most Chinese people did not have much of an impression of the Celts until very recently. For almost two hundred years since Lord McCartney knocked on the doors of the Chinese Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and (Northern) Ireland has been categorically represented as the country of ‘Anglia’ tenanted by Anglo-Saxons. Even these days a substantial number of Chinese people, many of them have tasted the flavor of quality Scotch, are oblivious of the fact that England, alongside Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland constitute the United Kingdom.

However, this is perhaps because they are not used to the idea of a collection of countries exist alongside one another under one sovereign.

A brief look at ancient Chinese history would reveal that successive wars have been fought over the last two thousand years to keep the country of China united under one sovereign, be it a feudal monarch or a nationalist dictator (in the name of the people, of course). The paradigm of ‘one country, one sovereign’ is what all countries of the world shall adopt, as these people assume.

Summer 2012 The Chinese authority, who has made significant military effort to ensure that Tibet is part of China, considers the loose formation of multitude of countries under one sovereign as dangerous. The Chinese leaders are engaged in building a consensus that the prosperity of the country depends upon her territorial integrity. That in turn explains why the Chinese leader found it rather uncomfortable when the First Minister of Scotland proclaimed his first ‘state visit’ to China last December.

Consequently, the Chinese people found it hard to situate the British Celtic Fringe in the social and cultural landscapes of the world, especially when the glory of England eclipsed the presence of countries like Scotland, Wales and Cornwall.

The British Celtic Fringe remains visible to those Chinese anthropologists and historians who are curious about the British society as a whole. To them they are not used to associate the Celtic culture with the social developments of places such as Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. Of course the health of a culture matters, it is of paramount importance to the continuation of any national or regional identity. Elements of a culture, such as food, are what keep a country different from other ones. Arguably, the Cornish culture is substantiated by Cornish people making pasties that distinguish the Cornish identity from others (interesting though, the Chinese Muslim also make a type of pasty compromising minced potatoes, but only limited to several Western regions of China).

Although admittedly the Celtic culture was already in sharp decline during the colonial era, the peoples of the Celtic Fringe did manage to bring traces of their culture to the distant territory of China especially after the Chinese dynasty opened trade with the West in the 1840s. Forces of British colonialism were relentless.

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ed by the Scottish regiments, the vanguards of British colonialism, the Scottish merchants, the Welsh missionaries and the Cornish sailors all left their footprints across the mainland of China.

However, in those days it was impossible for ordinary Chinese to distinguish them from the agents of other European colonial masters. Racially they are all known as the Westerners. Despite European colonial domination lasting less than a millennium, the legacies of Celtic culture left by those colonial agents are still visible in China these days if one looks carefully enough. For example, many roads in Hong Kong are named after Scottish military commanders; a few churches in north China, founded by the Welsh missionaries are still open to congregations in communist China. It is speculated that the remains of Cornish ships may still be found at the bottom of the South China Sea, however, it will take some effort for the Chinese to recognize the symbolic values of these Celtic cultural legacies around them.

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The retreat of British colonial agents around the 1940s brought a halt, not an end, to the spread of Celtic influence in China. When the communists ruled China at the height of the East-West confrontations during the Cold War, people of the Western countries were indiscriminately branded as the decadent capitalists. Their historical legacies in China were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. However, the same vanguards that denounced the corrupt Western culture did not foresee the irony only 20 years after the revolution: one of the most iconic representations of the Western cinematic culture, which involves certain Celtic elements, was about to appear at the classrooms of their party institutes.

many roads in Hong Kong are named after Scottish military commanders;

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he revolution came fast, and went even faster. Straight after the Cultural Revolution the new generation of Chinese leaders embraced the Western world once again in the 1970s, in a radical change of ideologies that literally starts the demise of the communist bloc. The Celtic culture once again found its way into the ‘forbidden kingdom’ of China, mainly through regular cultural exchanges and visits between the country and members of the commonwealth world, notably Australia. In the 1980s at a major folklore event the Chinese national media introduced ordinary Chinese people to the Celtic dance, a fashionable performing art that has been pursued by many passionate young Chinese. However, it was not until the arrival of the movie ‘Titanic’ which overwhelmingly captured Chinese imagination of the Celtic culture.

If the Celtic dance was only a vigorous expression of passion amongst young Chinese, the movie ‘Titanic’ was a channel through which the Celtic culture found its way into the hearts and minds of ordinary Chinese people across all age boundaries. Filmed entirely by Hollywood crews, the ‘Titanic’ was foremost the first Western movie that dominated the Chinese cinemas since the 1970s, a milestone on China’s path to global cultural integration; Watched by Chinese of all ages, the ‘Titanic’ exhibited the wonders of the Celtic culture without excess, especially at the scenes where the main characters were enjoying the Celtic dance and music at the lower deck. Of course the music theme throughout the movie was Celtic too, involving the play of bag-pipes. Since the release of the ‘Titanic,’ the popularity of the Celtic music and performing arts soared overnight.

Tens of millions of Chinese people began to distinguish the Celtic culture from other European cultures and came to appreciate the beauty of the Celtic tunes in such ‘mysterious’ style – emotional, charming and relaxing. Enya was one of the first artists that benefited from such trend: her albums received unprecedented attention from many middle-aged Chinese women. The massive popularity of the Celtic culture was once felt at almost all corners of Chinese society, especially when Enya’s tunes were being played at shopping centres, airports and even military barracks as background music. Such popularity was far from being short-lived, especially when Chinese people made their effort to experience the Celtic culture first-hand ten years since the ‘Titanic’ movie landed in China: According to the Ulster Tourist Board, a record number of Chinese tourists visited the Harland and Wolff ship yard at Belfast, where the Titanic was built.

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According to the Ulster Tourist Board, a record number of Chinese tourists visited the Harland and Wolff ship yard at Belfast

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ndeniably the fascination with the Celtic culture amongst Chinese people, especially wealthy Chinese people, engenders greater recognition of the merits of the culture, such as the sport of golf, and subsequent economic benefits, especially in the tourist industry. According to a recent market report, China now has the greatest number of middle-class consumers in the world. This report has been welldigested by the Scottish Tourist Board, an organization that has already targeted wealthy Chinese for its ‘VisitScotland’ campaigns at designated cultural events hosted by the British Council in China.

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China’s remarkable economic growth has contributed to the increasing recognition of the cultures of the British Celtic Fringe

A recent survey shows that 60% of wealthy Chinese consider Scotland the best place for golf and almost all of them intend to play golf there in the immediate future. These people are no longer satisfied with listening to the bag-pipe recordings; they now plan to come to the British Celtic Fringe to play golf while listening to the bag-pipe live!

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verall, China’s remarkable economic growth has contributed to the increasing recognition of the cultures of the British Celtic Fringe amongst Chinese people, whose impressions of the region have undergone substantial transformation. However, these impressions are largely limited to arts and entertainment, to sport, to anything else associated with the movie ‘Titanic.’ Their desire to embrace the Celtic culture remains motivated by their aims of personal enjoyment. The Celtic culture is hardly a serious subject at Chinese institutions, yet the exact location of the British Celtic Fringe remains a myth to many Chinese people…

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However, the communist cadets at the party institutes may have a very different impression of the British Celtic Fringe since the release of the movie ‘Titanic’. It must be emphasized that the story of the Titanic was a tragic one. The movie, despite its entertainment values, was a high-tech demonstration of the terrible extent of the tragedy, with little exaggeration. At the time of the disaster, when it was clear that the ship was to be abandoned, the wealthy passengers, understood as the decadent capitalists, were quickly loaded onto the life boats, leaving thousands of proletariats trapped in the lower classes’ cabins. Subsequently the movie ‘Titanic’ was considered an ideal material by the party institute to illustrate the brutal nature of class relations envisioned by Karl Marx.

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ow it is understood that a large number of the Titanic victims were passengers with Celtic backgrounds, including Irish and Cornish. Many of these people, disadvantaged in Britain, were on their way to fulfill their American dreams but could only afford a bed onboard the ship. When the disaster struck, these people were left to the mercy of freezing Atlantic water. This was the moment when race, ethnicity and class together decided upon one’s destiny. “Why must the dancing Irishman die, whilst the Anglo-Saxon capitalists found it uncomfortable to fill the life boat?!” an outraged party cadet shouts as the scenes of death and sorrow emerge on the screen. As the movie ends the party cadets reached an absolute consensus that the Celts were proletariats, exploited and eventually deprived the chance to survive under the system of capitalism. Their sympathy towards those Celtic victims was subsequently transformed into a rare case of class and racial solidarity amongst the Chinese communists and the Celtic proletariats, despite the fact they lived millions of miles apart in very different eras, demonstrating a novel impression of the Celts amongst the Chinese across space and time.

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Summer 2012

The Beast of Bodmin Moor Best Goon Brèn Story by Alan M. Kent, Illustrations by Gabrielle Cailes, Cornish Translation by Neil Kennedy Published by Evertype ISBN 978-1-904808-77-0

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rolific Cornish author Alan Kent welcomes you to share the secret tale of the Beast of Bodmin in his recent contribution to the world of Cornish literature. The Beast of Bodmin Moor/ Best Goon Brèn is a bilingual Cornish/English book aimed primarily at children and reinforced by a 7 page supportive glossary translated by accomplished modern Cornish linguist and author Neil Kennedy.

Combining elements from many Celtic myths and legends, Kent tells the tale of how the infamous Cornish ‘beast’ (actually an escapee puma), enjoys the wonders of Kernow. As chief protector of Bodmin Moor, ‘Cornwall’s last great wilderness’, friendly and courageous Tegen becomes dangerously drawn into ‘the Old Celtic Otherworld’ where she faces Tregeagle, the dreaded wolf-spirit who ‘haunted Bodmin Moor for centuries.’ After gaining King Arthur’s sword Excalibur, Tregeagle plans to regain power and ruin the moor. However, Germoe, a fellow puma and eventual mate to Tegan, bravely forces Tregeagle to return to the Celtic underworld.

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ncluded in the book is an illustrated map of places covered by adventurous Tegan. Along with a ‘can you spot these things in the book?’ activity testing the child’s observational skills, it encourages its young readers to re-engage with the narrative. As a learning tool the book certainly succeeds and Kent makes subtle yet necessary calls for the sustainability of the land through ambassador Tegan who protects the rugged and unspoilt moorland from litter and damage.

The narrative is further strengthened by its illustrations, as if we weren’t quite romanticized by Kent’s vivid descriptions of the Duchy. Literary theorist Edward Hodnett defines the best illustrators as having ‘the ability to understand the author’s intention and what legitimately can be visualized beyond the words he has used.’

Gabrielle Cailes’ depictions seem to do just that.

Particularly essential within a children’s publication, the images do justice to Kent’s magical and mythical, colourful Kernow.

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lthough marketed as a childrens book, adults are sure to enjoy the reinvention of a legendery tale, and as a toolkit for the learner of modern Cornish. All things considered, Best Goon Brèn serves well as an engaging tale. Apart from being a useful educational and linguistic tool, it is a unique gift for anyone with a love of Cornwall and a proud addition to the library of modern Cornish literature.

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Cornish Story Magazine

Summer 2012

Share, Support, Sustain

By Umar Ali

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he Celebration of Islamic Culture event which was held at Tremough Campus turned out to be extremely successful. We had a great turnout from both the university and the local community and people of all ages enjoyed the performance, the food and the various stalls and displays. It was great to see unity between the people of Falmouth and Penryn and the student population and I hope this event spawns many more to come.

This event was the first of its kind. In the history of Islam, or of Qawwali, or Cornwall, no Qawwal has ever performed here; this changed on Saturday 3rd March 2012. Hamid Ali Naqeebi is considered the leading professional Qawwal in the United Kingdom and his talent and skill, which becomes evident to any observer of his performances, are testimony to his rapidly growing reputation. Hamid Ali Naqeebi has also had the great honour of performing for the esteemed Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Shaykh-ul-Islam – a world renowned Islamic scholar. Furthermore, Hamid’s reputation has grown abroad, after a series of fantastic performances across Pakistan.

The Qawwal Group was also accompanied by His Excellency, Haji Mohammad Iqbal Naqeebi, whose name is well known across South East Asia and many other places around the world. Haji Mohammad was the manager of the Great Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, attributed to having brought the art of Qawwali across to Europe, for a period of 35 years, and is now passing his teachings onto Hamid.

Organised by the FXU International Society (a group for Falmouth and Exeter students at Tremough) as part of a weeklong celebration of diversity.

Photo: Georgina Mallett

Cornish Story Magazine

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Summer 2012

AIR RAID ON ST IVES Rachael Rowe unearths the poignant tale of a WW2 air raid on St Ives.

Seventy years ago during World War Two Cornish beaches were lined with barbed wire and often had gun emplacements. On Friday 28th August 1942 the small holiday town of St Ives saw a daring raid by the Luftwaffe terrorise locals and visitors alike. The town was bombed, the beach machine gunned and casualties sustained. This eyewitness account relives the moment that brought war to the shores of Cornwall and a remarkable act of bravery by two evacuee children.

Porthminster Beach was crowded on the afternoon of last Friday in August 1942 as people enjoyed the sunshine and tried to forget the war for a few hours. Kitty Rowe, then eight years old was playing in the sea with two new evacuee friends from London. “Lots of evacuees came to Troon from Hackney in London and we had to share our village school with them. Some of them found living in Cornwall very different. I remember we took two of our new friends to the beach at St Ives for a treat and we were all paddling in the water and splashing each other. In wartime the beaches were lined with barbed wire to prevent invasions and you could only go on certain parts.”

Aircraft on the Horizon

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a very difficult task for the defence who did not call witnesses and Holman himself was excluded by law from entering the witness box.

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Cornish Story Magazine

T

he peace and joy of an idyllic summer afternoon was soon to be broken. In the distance some people on the beach noticed two planes coming over the hill, flying towards St Ives and circling the houses. At first the crowds thought they were British but then the planes banked revealing the sinister markings of the Luftwaffe. Kitty continues, “Some of the people started to wave at them because they thought they were British pilots but suddenly there was panic as the planes flew over the water and we all realised from the markings they were Germans. Some men at the back of the beach shouted at everyone to take cover.

The planes were so low I could see one of the pilot’s faces. Then we heard gun fire and the planes machine gunned the beach with bullets. Suddenly the evacuees grabbed me and pulled me under the water and they held me under. They had the presence of mind to do that, being from London. I suppose they were more used to air raids than us.”

For what seemed like an eternity the planes peppered Porthminster Beach with gunfire, terrifying young and old like before disappearing over the town in search of other targets such as the gas works.

Summer 2012

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We all went back onto the beach and there were a lot of frightened and shocked people .Many sunbathers had flung themselves flat on the sand as there was nowhere to go.

Bombs were dropped on the town and one lady, a Mrs James, died instantly as one exploded close to her.

Eleven people were injured in the beach and town attacks. A lot of debris lay all over the town and in people’s gardens and the Cornishman reported that some of the older residents including a ninety year old Mrs Carbines refused to be removed from their bombed houses in defiance at the Germans. Several St Ives people were rendered homeless from the air raid.

Kitty recalled getting out of the water, not quite believing what had happened. “We all went back onto the beach and there were a lot of frightened and shocked people .Many sunbathers had flung themselves flat on the sand as there was nowhere to go. We saw two old ladies trying to hide behind a deckchair and we did laugh at them thinking how on earth they thought the canvas would protect them against bullets.”

Further Raids The pilots were not finished yet and spied a bus leaving town crowded with people. The Cornishman reported that this also found itself under fire and the passengers took cover as the bus was also machine gunned. A Canadian officer threw many of the locals to the ground to protect them against the danger and a local vicar and his wife, who were in front of the bus, also found their car peppered with flak in a somewhat mischievous hail of bullets before the pilots flew off back to their base.

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he newspaper reports at the time did not mention St Ives by name for fear of giving vital information to the enemy, as secrecy was paramount. The raid was simply reported as occurring in a coastal town in the South West of England. It is also known from post-war research that Ribbentrop was very fond of St Ives, visiting the resort in 1937 however his acquired postcard collection went on to illustrate a German Invasion handbook which was produced in 1941. It has never really been understood what drove the two pilots to attack a peaceful beach full of civilians on that August afternoon or why more people weren’t killed.

Several bombs were dropped on Cornwall during World War Two as pilots found themselves with spare ordnance following raids on other cities and dropped them on the route back to Occupied Europe. For Kitty Rowe the experience as an eight year old was terrifying and unforgettable, “Being pulled under saved me, but I have never been in the sea since that day. I will never forget that pilot’s face.”

Cornish Story Magazine

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Summer 2012

In a nutshell: St Ives Elizabeth Abnett takes a contemporary look at one of Cornwall’s most culturally-crammed seaside towns, St Ives.

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t Ives (Porth Ia in Cornish) is one of Cornwall’s greatest treasures and most famous holiday retreats. Its golden beaches, beautiful harbour and crystal waters offer both visitors and locals a summer haven so exotic that you’ll feel like you’ve holidayed abroad.

Originally a fishing village and remote part of the South West, St Ives has, over the years, transformed into a hugely admired town. It is believed that the village had been a working fishing harbour since the Middle Ages. It remained an almost undiscovered jewel until the late 1800s when First Great Western embarked on a new branch line. St Ives became more accessible by train, and hence, its popularity grew tremendously.

The railway best appreciates the coastal journey as, on approach, you can view enchanting scenery of Lelant, Carbis Bay and Porthminster, the embracing beaches. As soon as you enter the heart of the town you notice The Warren, a disarray of cottages cradled by the harbour.

Their buttery rooftops are perhaps one of St Ives most distinctive traits, giving the town a warm glow even in the depths of winter. The yellow plant called Lichen grows on these rooftops, giving the town its unique look. Lichen feeds mostly on sunlight and, due to its vulnerability to air pollution, it is increasingly visible in clean, coastal areas such as St Ives.

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ating back at least to the Middle Ages, St Ives has flourished as a fishing port. The success of the town depended heavily on its fishing industry, until the decline in trade in the 20th century. The picturesque seaside town then began establishing itself as a popular holiday destination, therefore its prominent commercial appeal lead to the growth of tourism.

Walking through the labyrinth of cobbled streets, known as “Downalong”, in peak season is atmospheric to say the least. Amongst the galleries and surf shops, the streets are paved with trinket and souvenir shops, ice cream parlours, bakeries selling the “Best Cornish Pasties”, cosy restaurants and traditional chippies overlooking the harbour-front. St Ives gained so much appeal as a holiday destination that the town was named the seaside town of the year by the Guardian in 2007 and then went on to win the British Travel Awards “Best UK Seaside Town” in 2010 and 2011.

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ut of peak season, however, the complete calm and stillness of the town juxtaposes its famous hustle and bustle ambiance. Walking through the quaint streets in February can prove disappointing to the avid shopper, when a portion of the town’s shops are closed until March, awaiting warmer weather and increasing customers.

For some, off-peak months are perfect for appreciating the bay in its entire splendor. Whilst perched quietly on the harbour edge, the rhythmic rippling of the water from distant nodding boats and almost abandoned beaches (except from the occasional dog walker) accentuate its effortless beauty.

St Ives is particularly renowned for its impressive artistic culture, represented in the St Ives Tate Gallery as well as throughout the town’s independent galleries and various sculptures found around the bay. The Tate Gallery offers world-class art and is an important monument, which opened in 1993 as part of the Tate Gallery in London. Even prior to the opening of the Tate Gallery, St Ives accommodated many world famous artists and sculptors including Barbara Hepworth, Bernard Leach and Turner. Its inspiring scenery has even compelled Rolf Harris to paint its wondrous landscape in 2007 where he mused over the extraordinary sun light that is projected over the dark blue sea.

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hile its visions mesmerize in large quantities, the legend surrounding St Ives also offer a wonderful sense of mysticality and tradition. The legend tells the story of Saint Ia, a virgin saint who floated from Ireland to St Ives on a leaf sent from God. When she reached St Ives it is believed that she created an oratory where the present parish, dedicated to Saint Ia, stands today.

St Ives is chock-full of rich history, culture and stunning scenery. Not far from the town hub is the Island, a bulge of land that was originally used as a fort. Formerly called Pendinas, the Island offers amazing sea views and dolphins are often sighted swimming in the calm waters.

Treasured beaches surrounding the town consume stretches of coast with golden sand and glistening waters. Porth Kidney beach, a personal favourite, is nestled within the neighbouring village of Lelant. At the height of summer Porth Kidney is popular but not over crowded. If you grow tired from sunbathing amongst the suntraps or swimming in the clear waters, walking the surrounding sand dunes is a great way to soak up the coastal views. In the winter months, the beach becomes more subdued, with only stray dog walkers for company. The stillness of Porth Kidney is relaxing and peaceful, enabling you to fully take in the beauty of the bay.

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n all its glory, St Ives is one of the most valued towns in Cornwall. It manages to keep its unique history alive whilst representing modern day cultures throughout the bay together with the St Ives Tate Gallery. Its envious beaches, spectacular views and quaint characteristics draw in visitors from far and wide every year, making it a place to be proud of, passionate about and treasured forever.

Cornish Story Magazine

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Summer 2012

Discovering Cornwall through Guidebooks.

By Kim Cooper, Principal Library officer of The Cornwall Centre

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ornwall has long held a fascination for visitors, but how did travellers find their way? We all take for granted guidebooks to direct us, but when were they first introduced? Christine North explains in her article 'West Barbary' (published in 'From Pilgrimage to Package Tour' edited by J. Palmer and J. Mattingly, 1990) that 'seventeenth and eighteenth century diaries and pocket books contained information on coach routes, distances between towns and essential equipment for the journey.'By the 1820s guidebooks were not only offering information on travelling and where to stay, but were also extolling the beauties of the countryside and describing excursions. One of the earliest was Stockdale's Excursions published in 1824.

From Tregothnan, after passing Malpus Passage, the distance to Truro is two miles, and a very pleasanrt ride. Approaching Truro from this direction, the town has a grand and imposing aspect; the effect of the scene is greatly improved by the numerous trading vessels lying at anchor, particularly at low water, whilst the sun is setting....The alterations and improvements made of late years at Truro have certainly given the town a very neat and handsome appearance; the streets being well paved ,watered, and lighted with gas, are more comfortable than any other town in the county.

Excursions in the County of Cornwall by F. W. Stockdale, 1824.

In the 1850s Murray's Handbooks were describing places of interest, routes for day's outs and information on travel, antiquities, geology and natural history.

On crossing the embankmanet the traveller will notice the pretty village of Lelant on the opposite shore. The fuchsia, hydrangea and myrtle flourish in its cottage gardens the year round. Near the sea the parish is covered with sand, which is continually being blown up the cliffs from the beach.

A Handbook for Travellers in Cornwall and Devon, 1851 (published by John Murray).

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y the late nineteenth and early twentieth century guides were being regularly updated and reproduced by various authors and publishers - W.H. Tregellas, Ward Lock, Ward and Baddeley, and Black. Another early twentieth century guide is Harper's Cornish Coast: Dolcoath Mine is situated on a hill near Camborne railway station, and its works cover a large acreage. It is not a place in which to spend a quiet day for the stamps crushig the ore make a deafening noise, and in every way the scene is a busy one, Dolcoath employing about 800 persons above ground, in addition to the 600 at work below, in the levels and galleries that reach a total depth of 3,000 feet. Among those employed "at grass" – i.e. above ground – are a number of women and girls, whose work consisits in raking and sorting the broken ore, and tending the revolving mills, that further crush it and grind it up in running water.

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Cornish Story Magazine

Summer 2012 The Cornish Coast (north) by C.G. Harper, 1910 (published by Chapman and Hall).

The promotion by the Great Western Railway of Cornwall as 'England's Riviera' resulted in many guidebooks and promotional material where Cornwall was declared to be at least equal to the Azores, Madeira or Monte Carlo.

There is an incontestable fact for you, and gives the main reason for visiting Cornwall at any time of year before anywhere else. It is because its climate, the all-important factor in a holiday, is the most equable in the world that we claim the right to describe the Duchy as the Cornish Riviera. Everyone has dreamt of a land where the sun always shines but never proves harmful, where it is always warm but never enervating, where we may bathe in the winter and take active exercise in the summer. We had to have a name for this Elysium, so we called it the Cornish Riviera.

Penzance is proving a formidable rival to Madeira, the Scillies to the Azores, and Mullion to Monte Carlo.

Quite apart, then, from any of the myriad attractions, it is worth visiting Cornwall just on account of her climate. If you are jaded or run down it makes you fit, if you are well it keeps you so. Her climate is equable, not torrid.

The Cornish Riviera by S.P.B. Mais, 1929 (published by Great Western Railway Company).

There were of course guides to towns and resorts, some produced by bigger publishing companies, others by the more enterprising local councils and printers. Penzance, Falmouth, Bodmin, Fowey and Land's End are all featured in individual guidebooks as early as the 1870s.”

A collection of guidebooks from Stockdale's Excursions to present day guides are held at the Cornish Studies Library and they provide a fascinating view of towns and villages across Cornwall.

For more information on the guidebooks available at the Cornish Studies Library, please see our online catalogue at www.cornwall.gov.uk/cornwallcentre or visit us at The Cornwall Centre, Alma Place, Redruth.

Opening times are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 10am to 1pm.

(Telephone – 01209 216760 or Email – cornishstudies.library@cornwall.gov.uk.)

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Summer 2012

Choughed up!

Mini rambles of Arty the Cornish Chough

By Sanjay Kumar

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t is not very common in the crooked history of anything really, for something to reappear, regroup, unless you are a ruthless bunch of us lot who call this sacred land of Cornwall our Home.

Opportunity only knocks once! That’s right.

Although just as the majestic waves of the mighty Atlantic never take anything away, we choughs have had a taste of lands far far away before returning here for good.

Even the lovingly departed R.H.Pascoe; (Hoodie to his mates) the squint-eyed pirate from the Caribbean, whose daily dose of Cornish Mahogany (some parts of gin, mixed with a wee dram of treacle) and boiled liver of white lobster on toast has been fabled to be an incessant obsessional tradition, until the war of the worlds was officially declared upon us; could ever tell oneself the secret of how us the Chough lot, got our glossy Cornish black plumage and a rather pouting feminine set of lips.

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eing of a younger modern generation of the chough lot, I like hangin’ around with gulls and gannets of the neighborhood, befriending them allows me to enjoy a unique taste of pasty crumbs and foot longs, although I still prefer mum’s daily dose of pilchard supper and an occasional bite of juvenile cod liver, unwillingly discarded by “starsky” the broody fisherman’s gaffer boy.

Not a lot of our glorious past, interests me really! I want to grow up one day, travel the world, meet some other birds of feather called “crows” in south East Asia, flock together and learn different nesting cultures. Nan says, I am a fifth generation Cornish Chough (apparently a rare breed).It was apparently a rather hard choice for Pa Arthur Senior, to part company from the lush green Welsh lands and trace his way back to where his heart always belonged. She says, here in Cornwall, we could sing a love song and not bother about the dialect, put a few urgent matters to bed and flag it as “Dreckly” on our avian outlook calendar, and the Cornish weather perfectly fits our plumage with limited doses of deferred sunshine.

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In the days of long winter idleness, we stay huddled against each other in our cliff-top shelter home, and think!

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part from the wind mills and the occasional seasonal traffic of budget holidaymakers, Cornwall is still alright for us locals. We the Choughs have always been proud to be sitting on government emblems and insignias and often work symbiotically with organic farmers in picking the weeds out of the soil. A few futile efforts by lesser informed citizens have seen a few of us being domesticated and legend has it that a feather stuffed bust of Mrs. Laura Chough of Bodmin moor, still stares blankly out of a glinted glass cage of the National History museum in London.

In the days of long winter idleness, we stay huddled against each other in our cliff-top shelter home, and think! Wonder what it would be to be a bird like Aaron the glint-eyed seagull. It may be cool to be him, but you know what, it is cooler to be me! Proud Chough and Cornish born and bred, I am living the dream.

“Kee-aw,Kee-aw” Gotta go, mate. Its curbside recycling Thursday, the gulls have ripped open an unkempt rubbish bag full of fresh, edible food; and we need to make the most out of it.

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I hate food waste, do you?

Turn Over for Sanjay Kumar’s latest recipe

Fish Tin and Copper Cornish Story Magazine

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Summer 2012

Pysk,Sten Ha Kober (Fish, Tin and Copper)

By Sanjay Kumar

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n the glory days of tin mining, earnings were low and the bal Maidens (the industrious women folk of Cornwall) had a tough job on their hands to feed the hungry lot. Barley and nettles were in abundance and were often paired to rustle up a quick broth with a chunk of tinner’s bread. A few stray pilchards salvaged from the fisherman’s cart would be well sourced and prepared, and with the frugal earning they would make in terms of tribute (a fair share!) could buy a piece of choice green pork for the hoggan.

It took years of innovation, and trials and tribulations to get the pasty right. Braised Skirt/Blade of beef, locally grown turnips, potatoes and onions were tenacious ingredients to serve a croust purpose. “Fish, Tin and Copper” was an old adage that drove the cart of Cornish livelihood, and squash and corn was readily available to rustle up an occasional treat with flavours of s u ro tu n e v d the earth. The key to Cornish a of 4 Serves a Family home cooking is in its honesty. eaters.

Very often cooking is simply a s, te u in m 0 1 combination of available Preparation time seasonal basic ingredients and s. te minu cooking time 15 fuss-free presentation.There is something rather mouth-watering about the word “Moussaka.”

Fond memories of Saudi Arabian Cornish pilchards d e d n la ly sh e kitchens bring back subtle fr 8 ted e ll fi d n a d le a sc pictures to my Little Cook’s (mature sardines) ly in th mind. Mountains of minced d slice 1 large aubergine lamb, deftly tucked amongst lotted cream c h is rn o C s n o lasagne of thin slivers of o 4 tablesp n oregano-laced aubergine (locally 1 egg beate r a called Batimjan) made a dish fit d d e ornish ch C d il m s n o o sp le for the kings. Here in Cornwall, I 2 tab often like to marry the oiliness of grated s e v a bountiful pilchards, with the le oregano sh e fr n o o sp a te 1 earthiness of aubergine and top it e oil v li o s n o o sp le all up with a rich cloud of b 3 ta d Cornish cream. Ready in 1 lemon quartere minutes, moussaka is a great way of introducing essential oils and fish proteins to your family’s diet. This is healthy comfort food, out of a tin!

Ingredients

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Cornish Story Magazine

Summer 2012 Preheat the Oven to 180 degrees.

Cure the aubergine slices with Olive oil, and keep aside.

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ightly fry the pilchards in a non-stick pan, skin side down, and place in a shallow baking dish. Place and fry the slices of aubergine in the same pan, for the flavours of sardine oil to soak into them. Layer the fried aubergine slices on top of the sardines, and sprinkle some freshly torn oregano leaves on them. Whisk the Clotted cream, mustard and egg along with the grated cheese and pour generously over the fish mixture. Bake the pilchard moussaka for 15 minutes (or until the cheese mixture starts bubbling as a nice brown layer). Serve the moussaka hot with a seasonal leaf salad and lemon wedge.

Yeghes Da! (Cheers to all things Cornish)

Sanjay Kumar’s Recipes are a regular contribution to Cornish Story Would you like to see more?

Cornish Story Magazine

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Where have you gone Gus Honeybun?

Summer 2012

Where have you gone Gus Honeybun?

We need you now.

We need you Gus in these dark days of IEDs, high petrol prices and the loneliness of Facebook.

We need you Augustus J in these tense times of iPads, the war on terror and Saturday night Blue-Ray. You were there for me once, when that July, I turned six, and you gave me six bunny hops.

To think – my name on the TV, I was made up.

It made my world complete, in a time before You Tube, web cams and texting.

I watched transfixed at your slot, puppet rabbit, with your winks, head-stands and way you could ‘turn out the lights’.

We need you Gus, with your wide-eyed innocence to tell us it will be alright, to give us birthdays all over again.

We need you to just be the preview to jelly and ice-cream, pass the parcel and all those hopeful wishes.

Where have you gone Gus Honeybun?

We need you now more than ever.

By Alan Kent

It seems you have gone, like all the other magic that defined we peninsula kids, we naïve rabbit-loving viewers.

You have gone the way of the piskies, gone the way of mermaids, gone the way of knockies, and gone the way of me.

I’m here writing to you Gus - Love from Uncle Al and the dog – Just the way Ian Stirling read out the card on air.

Wherever you are Gus, I want an ear waggle Cornish Story Magazine and please, press the magic button.