Cornwall Compiled Genealogies: Difference between revisions

The Duchy of Cornwall is classified as a county of England by the government of the United Kingdom and has been considered, at least by the English, to be a part of England for many centuries. It is historically one of the six Celtic nations, and the people had their own language (Kernewek), a Brythonic Celtic language in the same group as Breton and Welsh. This was the language of most of the people until about 1600, but within the next 100 years, English became the main language of the people as the Cornish language died out. The language is still in limited use by some Cornish who are making an effort to keep the language alive, but it does not enjoy widespread use such as one sees with the Welsh language in Wales.  The history, culture, and identity of the Cornish as a unique people do create a number of issues in Cornish research that are different from other counties in England.  

The Cornish Studies Library at the Cornwall Centre in Redruth is a vital repository of information with many collections, including microfilms of all the main Cornish newspapers up to the present day, many dating back to the mid 18th century.   The Courtenay Library at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro has printed books and periodicals covering the history of Cornwall from the prehistoric to the modern period.  It also has important collections of archives of Cornish families and historic photographs.  

Many parish records have been extracted by the LDS Church and are found in the IGI. The Hugh Wallis index of IGI batch numbers, which also gives the coverage in Cornwall by parish and years, is found at [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers/CountyCornwall.htm http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers/CountyCornwall.htm]   When parish records are not available or have been lost, that information may sometimes be found in the bishops transcripts.   Despite the fact that the Church of England (Anglican) is the established church in Cornwall, a major part of the population turned to Methodism and other smaller groups (of which the Bible Christian Movement was the largest).  By the mid 19th century there were more Methodists than Anglicans in Cornwall, which must be remembered by all researchers, as a search of only the Church of England parish records would miss information for more than half the population during the 19th century.  Methodism was especially dominant in the mining districts of Western Cornwall.  However, until at least 1837, nearly all marriages were in the Anglican Churches, even among the Methodists.  One must also know that burial of many Methodists continued to take place in the Anglican Church cemeteries.