FLHIG

Family and Local History
Indexing Group

Selected articles from the Newsletter

This article first appeared in SIGGNL 10  (August/Nov 1995)

The Cornish Mining Index
by Ian Richards
 

Introduction

Few will deny the contribution made by Cornwall to the industrial development of Britain and the rest of the world during the 18th and 19th centuries. Cornwall was at the forefront in the application of the new technology of steam power. Cornish mines had the problem of raising water and ore from the ever increasing depths, while the genius of such men as Savery, Newcomen and Watt provided the solution to replace much of the hard labour done by adults, children and animals. But, like many of the great conflicts of history, we are made aware of the Generals, the battlefields and weapons, but know little of the foot soldiers who gave all in the service of country (and employer), and so it is, with regard to those anonymous thousands labouring in the winning and refining of the ore. In 1838, for example approximately 30,000 men, women and children were directly employed in the mining industry in Cornwall, with many thousands in support industries. Yet despite their vast numbers the majority were doomed to anonymity.

Records available

At first sight it appears that other than census returns very few records exist that may help us to put some flesh and blood on these nameless thousands. However, through conventional research and the badgering of fellow researchers it has transpired that a surprising amount of archives survive, in both public and private collections. By attempting to collate all references to Cornish miners and their families that I come across, it is possible to develop a clearer picture of their lives from the cradle to the grave, and it is with this objective that a computer database named THE CORNISH MINING INDEX has been instigated.

For example, a search for a RICHARD PRIN(N) of Menheniot provides us with quite a revealing image of his life (sources in brackets).

RICHARD PRIN(N) son of RICHARD and MARTHA, born circa 1822, married ELIZABETH BARRETT born circa 1825 at Stoke Damerell on 5 April 1846 (Strays Index). On the night of 30th March 1851 Richard, his wife and one year old son HENRY are residing at Menheniot, and Richard's occupation is given as Lead miner (1851 Census). However this was not to be for long, for on 13th November 1857 Richard's hands are shattered in an explosion at Wheal Mary Ann, which ultimately drew to a close his mining career ("The Cornish Times" 22-11-1857). But Richard must have been quite some character, despite having lost both arms, in 1864 he is working as a wagon driver. Unfortunately fate was unkind yet again, for on 7th June 1864 whilst delivering coal with his son Henry in Liskeard he is fatally injured when a chimney of a house being demolished fell on him ("The Cornish Times" 11-6-1864), and was finally laid to rest at Menheniot on 17th June 1864.

Newspapers provide us with births, marriages and death announcements, with the accounts of the local and county courts giving us a glimpse of our forebears as they fall foul of the law, and the severity by which they were dealt with for what we would now consider to be petty offences. And of course to satisfy the Victorian appetite for tragedy and drama, they recall for their readers (mainly the literate middle classes) the daily tragedies of the labouring classes.

Sources indexed

Since its inception in September 1993 the index has grown to over 14,000 entries, and is expected to grow at a similar rate in future years, with the principal  sources to date being:

• Census returns

• 1797 Tinners List

• Strays Index.

• Newspapers and publications

• Cost Books

• Private submissions

• 1535 Tinners Muster Roll

Computer system used

For those interested in the more technical aspects of the project, I am currently running the index on a 486DX2 with 8 Meg of RAM, which when I was using Paradox 3.5 for DOS was exceptionally fast. However, since moving the index to Access for Windows (version 2), it is very noticeable how much the database has slowed down. The trade off though is the ability to produce an application  which provides a pretty front end, so that when I attend genealogical meetings, the general researcher can interrogate the database easily without my assistance.

Future opportunities

Recent technological developments, particularly that of the CD-ROM and the highly publicised information superhighway known as the Internet, offer great potential to those indexers who have computerised databases. In the last couple of years a large number of interesting CD-ROMs have become generally available, with many holding such files as American census records and Telephone Listings for both the USA and UK. I am sure that as more personal computers become equipped with the CD-ROM drives, the range of titles will expand and we should see a substantial drop in retail prices. Regarding the Internet, since going on-line in August I have been able to access a great deal of relevant data to my own project from a variety of sources world wide. A primary source being private individuals who are willing to search their own computerised databases for appropriate material. Another source that I have yet to access is that held at academic institutions particularly those in the United States.

Contact information

[correct at the time of original publication]

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