RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Cornwall => Topic started by: trish251 on Sunday 04 November 07 05:42 GMT (UK)
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Does anyone know of any fiction stories related to tin mining/miners in Cornwall - 1850-1900. In terms of understanding the lifestyle of the times, sometimes fiction stories will paint a more useful/interesting story than non-fiction.
I would also appreciate any non-fiction references in relation to the lives of Cornwall tin miners in the 19th century
thanks
Trish
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Here are some books here and index of names mentioned
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~mwi/conbook1.txt
several specific to mining
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Many thanks Althea
Trish
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Hi Trish
Forgot to add this list at West penwith resources
http://west-penwith.org.uk/wpenbook.htm lots have memoirs which should help with the real day account of what things were like.
Are you interested in a particular area of Cornwall?
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Hi Althea
My ggrandfather was a tin Miner from Wendron before he immigrated c. 1885 - I am trying to write a story that shows the life they had in Cornwall. I had always thought they had a hard life in Australia but I am told it was probably much better than what was left behind. I have read a couple of fiction books on life in Dorset in 1700s/1800s and am probably being lazy wanting to read someone's fiction about Cornwall - most fiction writers usually research the lifestyles of the times they are writing about. Some include good reference material in their notes. Looking at some of the references you have given will no doubt give me some of the information I would like to see.
The West Penwith site is very interesting - this is one of my family names - I do laugh at the comment and understand what is meant
Bolitho, T.G.G. The origin of the name Bolitho; The author, Paris: 1928 Complete rubbish.
Many thanks again
Trish
Edit: mmm something on that site gave me a spectacular computer crash - I will go a little slowly
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Hi
A good fiction writer of well researched tin mining stories is EV Thompson. A couple of titles spring to mind: Chase the Wind and Ben Retallick.
Mo
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Hi
A good fiction writer of well researched tin mining stories is EV Thompson. A couple of titles spring to mind: Chase the Wind and Ben Retallick.
Mo
I have to agree with this. Have been reading his stuff for approx 20 years now. My daughter has collected most of them and they are nearly all signed. We have "chased" him half way round Cornwall and Devon when we knew there was to be a signing. When my daughter was a teenager, someone stole one of her books and she wrote to him with only a vague address and he returned the letter and sent her a couple of books.
Now I think of it, he wrote one about someone emigrating to Aus if I have got the right author
His first ones were the best IMO
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Mo & Misty - many thanks for this - I will follow it up pronto
Trish
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i have a book
Tales of the Cornish Miners by John Vivian
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i have a book
Tales of the Cornish Miners by John Vivian
Many thanks Toni
Trish
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Let me know if you want to know anything in particular i will look it up. :)
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Let me know if you want to know anything in particular i will look it up. :)
Thank you again - at the minute I am just looking at general stories of the way these folks lived - I am realising why many left and came to Australia.
Trish
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the book i have tells tales of events rather then how life was back then
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This website is very useful ...it explains about the *Bal Maidens* women who worked in the mines of Cornwall in Victorian times.
The website is also searchable by name and I managed to find my GtGt Grandmother and her sisters on there!
http://www.balmaiden.co.uk/DatabaseSearch.htm
Kim x
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Thanks Kim - very interesting - my ggrandmother is there - they seem to have used census information to track her - probably some of her sisters/sister-in-laws as well
Trish
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I have just found some of my Osborne's on the Balmaiden site