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Cowethas Kernewek Loundres

Deadline forthe SpringNewsletter

Is

5th February

Please send allcontributions toThe Editor at theaddress on the

back page

Barnes RFC vRedruth RFC4th January 2020

New Year’s Lunch11th January 2020

St Piran’s DayCelebration29th February2020

134th Annual Din-ing Event21st March 2020

Family HistoryDay(incorporatingthe AGM andTrelawny Lecture)18th April 2020

Further details ofthese events can befound on page 2

www.londoncornish.co.uk

Summer is over and winter seems tohave arrived very suddenly – soquickly in fact that, certainly in Lon-don, we have not had the beautiful,colourful leaves which we usuallyhave at this time of the year: one daythey were green and the next, yellow– and now they are all on the ground.It has been devastating to see newsof the fires in Eastern Australia, andour thoughts are with our many cous-ins ‘down under’ and the brave emer-gency personnel who have beenworking so hard to deal with the situ-ation. I grew up in Sydney and re-member seeing bush fires. They areincredibly hot, and very frighteningand I remember being told that one ofthe problems with eucalyptus trees isthat they ‘explode’ spreading the firefurther. The loss of forests is distress-ing and it is particularly heart-break-ing to hear about the animals whohave been killed or badly injured But,it is not only our Aussie cousins whoare having a tough time with fires.Our Californian cousins have alsogone through a terrifying time. Ourthoughts are with them too.On a more cheerful note, I wonderhow many of our UK readers saw thetwo-part series Prince Charles: In-side the Duchy of Cornwall whichwas on ITV at the end of October.Prince Charles is the longest servingDuke of Cornwall and It was so inter-esting to see how, over the past 50years, he has worked to build theDuchy into the billion-pound busi-ness it is today. If you missed the

episodes, you may be able to pickthem up on Youtube. They are defi-nitely worth watching. As you see himwalking around in coat and wellies,one can’t help being reminded of hisancestor, ‘Farmer George’.We have some very important datesfor you to put into your diary. You willsee them on the next page, but I wantto highlight our Annual Dining Eventon 21st March which will, once againbe at the Imperial Hotel. We do hopemany of you will join us on this spe-cial occasion and share in somegood food and Cornish camaraderie.You will find an invitation and book-ing form in this newsletter.Another enclosure in this newsletteris a call for nominations for the PaulSmales Award and the London Cor-nish Shield. These are prestigious,international awards which acknowl-edge the amazing work some of ourCornish cousins do to promote Corn-wall and its heritage both in the UKand around the world. You will findthe criteria on the flyer. Please sendconfidential nominations (with a moti-vation) to the editor atlbroekmann@outlook.com. They willbe passed on to the Committee whowill pass their recommendations tothe Gorsedh. It is the Gorsedh whomakes the final decision. Closingdate for nominations is 1st March.All that is left now is to wish you ahappy Christmas and a peaceful newyear. We hope to see you soon atone of our events

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Barnes Rugby Football Club vs Re-druth Rugby Football Club –Saturday 4th January 2020Time: 2pm - 4pmVenue: Barnes Rugby Club, Queen ElizabethWalk, London SW13 0DGCome along, wear your black and yellow - andcheer Redruth on.

New Year’s Lunch –Saturday 11th January 2020Time: 12 noonVenue: Penderel’s Oak - 283-288 High Hol-born, London WC1V 7HZContact: Please let Carol Goodwin know if youwish to attend so we can book tables - e-mail :chynoweth@hotmail.co.uk or phone: 0208 3039054Please come and join us at our usual wateringhole at Penderel’s Oak, Holborn to start the yearoff with good company and perhaps just a drinkor two !!

Visit to Soane Museum - trying again!Time: Approximately 10.30am (We will confirmtimes with those who say they would like toattend.)Unfortunately, our planned visit to the SoaneMuseum in November did not take place be-cause of the difficulty of getting suitable timeslots. We propose trying again to arrange a visit,but this time we will aim to go before the lunchas it might be easier to get suitable slots. If youwould be interested in joining us for this, pleasecontact Carol Goodwin to let her know by 2ndJanuary so she can make the bookings.

St Piran’s Day Celebration -Saturday 29th February 2020Time: 2.30 - 5.30Venue: The Atrium, Imperial Hotel, RussellSquare( 2 minute walk from Russell SquareUnderground Station)Cost: £7Join us for a tea with Cornish clotted cream!

134th Anniversary Dining Event21st March 2020Time: 12pm - 4.30pmVenue: The Imperial Hotel, 61-66 RussellSquare, London, WC1B 5BBThe Hotel is situated overlooking Russell Squareand is a short walk from Russell Square TubeStation.There is car parking close by.An invitation is included in this newsletter.Please come and join us in an informal andpleasant venue.

Family History Day(incorporating theAGM and Trelawny Lecture)18th April 2020Time: 10am - 4.30pmVenue: Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8EP

We are delighted to have for our Trelawny Lec-ture, Sue Appleby, whose Talk is entitled ‘TheCornish in the Caribbean’.During the lunch break, the Annual GeneralMeeting for members will take place.

____________________

Can you guess what these nauticalCornish words mean in English?https://www.cornwalllife.co.uk/out-about/places/cornish-language-quiz-1-6160407Brennik – cockles, clams, limpetsBessel – mussels, oysters, winklesGommon – seaweed, seagull, seashellKanker – lobster, shrimp, crabGoolan – cormorant, kestrel, seagullPyffer – whale, dolphin, porpoiseReunes – whales, sharks, sealsMordartha – whelks, surfing, pollack

Forthcoming eventsA warm welcome is extended to non-members who would like to attend any of the

London Cornish Association events.

Brennik = limpetsBessel = musselsGommon = seaweedKanker = crabGoolan = seagullPyffer = dolphinReunes = sealsMordartha = surfing

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Family History Day reportsWriting up Your Family HistoryThis very useful lecture was given by KathyChater. She focused on two main issues:1. Put your ancestors into the context of theirtime2. How to break up the actual writing into smallermanageable chunksContextTo make family history more interesting it isimportant to put each person into the relevantcontext. Context includes family and friends,local events and workplace events, national his-tory and social changes and, finally world wideevents.Kathy suggested that the best approach was topick an ancestor who had had a reasonablyinteresting life and create a chart with columnsfor dates and events in his/her life and nationalevents looking like this:

If there is a lot to include, it might be better togive one page to your ancestor and a facingpage to national and international events.To get information for the wider picture and putyour ancestor into context, you can look at localnewspapers for such information as agriculturalprices (important for all those of us with ‘ag labs’in our ancestral tree), church activities, schoolsevents, adverts which give prices and entertain-ments.Trade and Street Directories can be used to lookat the neighbourhood – what were the occupa-tions of people living near – do they show a pooror rich neighbourhood?Maps, especially successive ones can showhow the area developed, e.g. how and when didrailways affect different parts of Cornwall. Youmay also be able to identify the route an ances-tor took from home to school or work. If so, youcould try walking it and see what remains fromtheir time.

Other sources which may be available includediaries, school records and even old schooltextbooks. Visits to such places as the Museumof Rural Life in Farnham, Surrey can also behelpful.Manageable chunksLook at the major events in your ancestor’s life,birth, baptism, siblings, first day at school, work,marriage, children, activities, clubs, retirement,death. You don’t have to write it all up at once.This is where the manageable chunks come intoplay. You can just write up one or two events ata time. This stops the task from becoming over-whelming.When writing, remember your reader and alwaysmake sure you state Who, What, Why, When,Where and How. These come from Kipling’s SixHonest Serving men and are still taught to jour-nalists today.If possible try to include some ‘cliff-hangers’ asthey do at the end of episodes on TV. This ismost easily done by weaving two people togeth-er in one section and adding something like’ butmore of this when we look further into X’s life’.I found these guidelines helpful. It will certainlymean more general research on some areas,but the chart idea appeals to me as does theadvice to write up one or two small bits at a time.Jacqueline Martin

Was your ancestor a criminal?Our afternoon speaker was Dr Colin Chapmanwith the intriguing title of 'Was your ancestor acriminal?'. Having found several ancestral cous-ins in trouble with the law I had thought the topicwas quite straightforward. Colin quickly chal-lenged my assumption. His enjoyable, informa-tive and generously illustrated talk introduced usto the difference between public and privateoffences, private ones being those subject tocivil suit and public ones to criminal law He thenwent on to amplify and clarify those distinctionsand outline the type of evidence we might find.Beginning with the 17th century where there waslittle material available for the family historian,Colin presented illustrations of what could befound. These were 'catchpenny' fliers giving in-formation on the crime. While many posterswere largely for entertainment, some did relateto real crimes. Produced by individuals or asso-ciations, they detailed the offence and some-times a reward for information and were

News of past events

Date Events inancestor’s life

NationalEvents

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circulated in the hope of catching offenders.There were also broadsheet accounts of acrime, the trial and the outcome. Colin warnedthat this material is limited and may not be accu-rate even if it relates to an actual crime. Morepositively, he spoke of an increased amount offormal evidence being available for the 18th and19th centuries.Colin then outlined the various types of privatelaw-breaking comprising such offences as as-sault and battery, abduction, distress for rentetc., debt and trespass, public nuisance andmany more. Committing these would not meanthat the person was a criminal. He then went onto detail the offences that are classified ascrimes and where family historians might look forinformation. They are grouped into five maincategories:1. Those injurious to God or religion such asapostasy and blasphemy, witchcraft or sorceryincluding Sabbath breaking, Evidence for thesemay be found in the published lists of thoseawaiting trial at the Quarter Sessions which wereproduced by local magistrates.2. Those transgressing the law of the Nationsuch as piracy, violating safe conduct and in-fringement of ambassadors' rights. Here evi-dence may include records such as the Changesof Keeper or the Quarter Sessions Recordswhich show the appointment of new goalers.3. Those affecting the power of the State suchas high treason or felonies against the RoyalPrerogative including counterfeiting and deser-tion from the armed services. Evidence for suchcrimes can be found in the Police Gazette as thePolice forces become more organised. Informa-tion on prisoners and their crimes may be foundin the broadsheets.4. Those concerning the infringement of theRights of the Public which included embezzling,obstructing arrest, taking reward for stolengoods, rioting, bribery, extortion etc. This cate-gory also includes offences against public tradesuch as smuggling, cheating, fraudulent bank-ruptcy and offences against the Health and Po-lice of the Community such as quarantine ofships in tine of plague, clandestine marriages,vagrancy drunk and disorderly, etc. Again infor-mation can be found in the Petty and QuarterSessions Records and accounts might be avail-able in the admission lists of police and prisonrecords5 Those derogating the Rights and Duties ofIndividuals comprising crimes such as homicide,

suicide, petty treason, rape, and burglary etc.Here, as well as court records, one might find arange of information published in the broad-sheets such as information on the prisoners andtheir crimes, inquest reports, details of appren-tices who'd run away from their masters, peoplewho had been 'bound over', even printed lettersof prisoners about to be executed. There is aneed for caution though as not all reporting is100% accurate. More accurate will be the re-ports of the Petty and Quarter Sessions and theAssizes; police and prison records.In accessing such records Colin pointed to theimportance of the local Record Offices which hesuggested may not only hold these records butcould also contain other types that, if not directlyrelated to crime, may be instructive. One exam-ple here might be to look at school records ifheld. Many schools kept punishment books re-cording their pupils' transgressions and theirconsequences and, whilst not directly related tocriminal offences might provide information onthe person's early experience or character.This summary offers only a partial view of a verythorough presentation on the topic. Colin's talkwas comprehensive, rich on detail and full of oraland visual examples. This was not the first talkthat Colin has given to the LCA and as usual wecame away more fully informed and very pleas-antly entertained.Gill Penny.

The deadline for the next issue of theLCA Newsletter is

5th FebruaryPlease send all contributions to:The Editor55 Brownell PlaceLondonW7 3AZ

Or email to lbroekmann@outlook.com

Bodmin Jail

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CondolencesMary WattersMembers of the LCA and her many Cornish friends were shocked to hearthat Mary Watters had passed away on 1st October. She will be remem-bered for her great sense of fun, her laughter and her empathy – not tomention her very humorous stories of encounters with penguins in theAntarctic!Mary will also be remembered for the tremendous support she gave herCornish cousins all over the UK. For many years she was Chairman of theTorbay Cornish Association and in this role, and as a great friend, sheregularly attended dinners and other events arranged by Cornish associations around the country.In 2011, the Gorsedd presented her with the Medal Bras Map Trevethan Award in recognition ofher loyalty to Cornwall and all she did for the Torbay Cornish Association and other Cornishorganisations. The best way to sum up her incredible contribution, in my opinion, is to repeat thecitation which accompanied her award:Born in West Cornwall, but now residing in St Budeaux, Mary has worked for over 50 years forCornish Associations as a well-known Ambassador through giving talks, raising funds for the AirAmbulance, organising competitions and exhibitions for 11 Associations, including the 2010biennial Cuntelles Kernewek – the gathering of all the UK Cornish Associations.Mary was the truest of friends who was always interested in others, and was there to help andsupport them - the best of Cornish Maids, who is greatly missedWe offer our condolences to Mary’s family and friends.

Peter RobillairdWe were saddened to hear that member Peter Robilliard, from Bodmin, passed away in October.Peter had been a member of the LCA since May 1961 – an amazing 58 years! He was aroundwhen the Trelawny Club was established and became a very active member of that branch of theLCA, which catered for the younger set.We send our condolences to his family and friends.

(Taken from the December 2019 newsletter ofthe Ballarat branch of the Cornish Associationof Victoria)

Prout’s Band will play the following real old Cor-nish Christmas carols from the balcony of Sam.Boanas’ British Queen hotel, to-night (ChristmasEve), commencing at 9 o’clock, viz.:

l. “Angels proclaim the happy morn;”2. “Hail! Prince of Peace;”3. “With hearts of gladness;”4. “Angels from the realms of glory;”5. “ The Lord is King.”

Interval of 10 minutes.

6. “ La recreation musicale;”7. ' “Christians, awake;”8. “Hark, the sound of holy voices;”9. “ It is well;”“God save the Queen.”

Prout’s Ballarat Band began in 1858. The found-er of the Band, Samuel Prout, had had a Band inCornwall before settling in Ballarat, supposedlyon hearing of the good things which were hap-pening in Australia, and more particularly in theGoldfields of Victoria. Samuel Prout decided toemigrate to Ballarat, leaving his wife and youngfamily behind.

From the Past - Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), Friday 24th December 1886, page 2

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It’s 1916. Germany’s adoption of unrestrictedsubmarine warfare is causing increased mer-chant shipping losses in British home waterswith a real danger of Britain’s vital transatlanticsupply lines being cut. The Royal Navy, realisingthe importance of using aircraft in anti-subma-rine operations, establishes an airship base atMullion on Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula in June.Four Royal Navy Air Stations (RNAS) are quicklyplanned including Tresco in the Scilly Isles.

Tresco was ideal. 25 miles out into the Atlantic,the channel between Tresco and its neighbour-ing island of Bryher provided a calm stretch ofwater where the RNAS’s long range flying boatscould take off and land. A 20 acre site frontingthe harbour at New Grimsby was requisitionedfrom Lieutenant Thomas Algernon Dorrien-Smith, the Lord Proprietor of the Scilly Islandsfollowing their lease from the Duchy of Cornwallby his late uncle in 1834. In addition to offices,living accommodation and hangars, a woodenslipway was built so that flying boats could bebrought ashore for maintenance.The initial compliment was six flying boats. Firstto arrive in February 1917 were Curtiss H.12Large Americas, which had only recently en-tered RNAS service. American-built, these twin-engined biplane flying boats had a wingspan of92 feet and were adapted for RNAS service byreplacing their Curtiss engines with more power-

ful Rolls-Royce Eagles. They were relativelyfast, well-armed and had an impressive range.In February 1918, a British version of the LargeAmerica, the Felixstowe F.2A designed by Lieu-tenant Commander Porte, began to replace theH.12s and in July the further improved Felix-stowe F.3, with a longer range and a heavierbomb-load, replaced most of the H.12s and F2s.By mid-1918 nine flying boats and two sea-planes were based at Tresco, almost twice thenumber of aircraft originally planned.Their main job was to fly long-range anti-subma-rine patrols looking for surfaced U-Boats lying inwait for British convoys in the Western Ap-proaches. Patrols lasted from one and a half tofive hours and covered the seas around theScilly Isles in a 250 degree arc with a maximumradius of 75 miles (see map below). Aircraft wereallocated patrol areas based on a gridded map.On a good day, one aircraft could cover 1,600square miles of sea in a single patrol. Aircraftbased at Plymouth, Newlyn and Fishguard pa-trolled adjoining areas, ensuring that there wasno refuge for U-Boats anywhere in the seasaround the south-west of Britain.In good visibility, a surfaced U-Boat could bespotted from the air from up to five miles away.It wasn’t easy though to see a submerged U-Boat. They usually dived before an approachingaircraft had time to attack, making themselves amuch more difficult target for the aircraft’s pilot.

WW1 - Rnas Tresco – Countering the Submarine MenaceBy Ian Townsend

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Instructional diagrams were produced to helppilots estimate the position of a submarine as itdisappeared from sight beneath the waves.In addition to anti-submarine patrols duties,Tresco’s aircraft also escorted convoys,searched for missing ships and aircraft, andblew up drifting mines with their machine guns.On several occasions, Tresco’s flying boats in-tervened to save ships under attack by U-Boats.One action occurred 40 miles north west of theScilly Isles on 7 September 1918 when Felix-stowe F.3 N4238 bombed a U-Boat which hadjust torpedoed the liner SS Persic. The Persicwas carrying 2,800 American troops bound forBritain and would almost certainly have beensunk if the flying boat had not appeared on thescene. Fortunately, though badly damaged, thePersic remained afloat and all the troops weretaken off safely. In his log book, Flight SubLieutenant Horace Prime, an American pilotserving at Tresco, reported sighting the Persicon the day when she was torpedoed and then on24 September. He reports escorting her as sheheaded for the British mainland for repairs.Fortunately, the Tresco flying boat crews did nothave to face opposition from German seaplanesas those operating from the east coast of Eng-land did. Fog and gales were the main challeng-es, causing several flying accidents and damageto aircraft even when in harbour at their moor-ings. In the event of engine failure, aircraft some-times had to land in rough seas resulting indamage to or even loss of an aircraft. In thecourse of flying boat operations from Tresco, fiveaircraft were lost at sea, ten were damaged inflying accidents and three more were destroyedat their moorings. The human cost was fiveaircrew lost and one ground crew killed.As the War came to an end the number of

U-Boat sightings decreased and only three in-conclusive attacks were made by Tresco aircraftin the final seven months of the War. The lastoperational flight from Tresco was on 10 Novem-

ber 1918, the day before the War ended. TheSquadron remained at Tresco until it was dis-banded in May 1919 and after that little furtheruse was made of the base, although the RAFoccasionally used it as a reserve flying boatmooring during the 1920s.

Today the land is back with the Dorrien-Smithfamily who remain as Lord Proprietors of Tresco,the other islands reverting back to the Duchy in1920. Little remains of the base. The Bothy, aformer potato store used for bomb storage, isextant despite being damaged in an explosion.The Power House, another former agriculturalbuilding converted for the use of the air base,also survives. The former RAF ammunition storehas been converted into holiday cottages.Iron rails on the slipway indicate where the flyingboats and seaplanes were launched and recov-ered on trolleys. At the top of the slipway, a new‘Flying Boat’ club and restaurant has been builtwith a painting of one of the old flying boats, andan example of one of the compasses they werefitted with, on display.Not a bad place for some evocative WWI history,a nice beer and some good food!

Spotted near St Just in Penwith

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In the autumn newsletter, we put out a plea toour readers. We had received an enquiry via theLCA website about the Bradford and DistrictCornish Association and its President, WHCStanton and were unable to answer it. Hence ourplea for help.Two of our members were unable to resist thechallenge and within days of the newsletter be-ing posted, Lorna Leadbetter and Brenda Keer,two of our most enthusiastic and knowledgeablefamily historians had unearthed an amazingamount of information on both Mr Stanton andthe Bradford and District Cornish Association.Brenda’s response to the item in the newsletterwas, ‘interesting little piece in the newsletter andsomething to get my teeth into! while Lornaresponded I’ve fallen for the challenge to try tofind out more about the Bradford CA and W H CStantan, and have succeeded in making a fewdiscoveries – not the full story by any means buta start.Both Lorna and Brenda found similar information– which is summarised by Lorna in the followingarticle:

Bradford & District Ca andW H C StantanAlthough I am unfortunately unable to attend anyLCA events at present, this doesn’t mean I havelost interest in our Association or questions Cor-nish. I was intrigued by the enquiry LCA receivedrecently about Bradford & District CA and W H CStantan, and set about undertaking some limitedresearch.The B&DCA certainly used to exist. Indeed anassociation was set up and held its inauguraldinner in 1894, but at that time it was for Cor-nishmen only. (This is only 8 years after theformation of what eventually became our LCA,and which started its life as a kind of all-maledining club for Cornish exiles in London). Thefirst Bradford event, as reported in the CornishTelegraph, was attended by male exiles from allover Cornwall, who joined in various toasts in-cluding ‘The Queen’ (Victoria), ‘Fish, Tin andCopper’, ‘The Town and Trade of Bradford’ and‘The Old Folk at Home’. They also engaged invarious songs including ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and ofcourse ‘Trelawny’.I then found several newspaper accounts whichindicate that what became the full B&DCA, open

to women, must have been set up in about 1927.One dated 3rd December 1931 in The Cornish-man reports on the fourth annual dinner ofB&DCA. At the event Mr J. Hambley Rowe ofHayle proposed the toast of ‘The DelectableDuchy’ and Mr. E. H. Moss, of Falmouth, re-sponded. He advised Yorkshire people to spendtheir holidays in sunny Cornwall, where theywould be made welcome. Mr. Arthur Smith ofHayle toasted the ‘county of our adoption’, andMrs Firth (obviously a proud local lady) in herreply said she forgave the previous speakers fortheir unlimited pride in Cornwall, as she hadprecisely the same opinion of Yorkshire scenery,the people, and the history. Apparently a splen-did musical programme brought the evening to aclose.The same paper reported on 18th March 1937that Mr W H C Stantan of Brighouse and former-ly of Looe had been elected as President at the10th AGM. At the following year’s AGM Mr Stan-tan, having completed his term as President,was appointed Hon Secretary and Treasurer protem following the resignation of the former hold-er of those positions. At the 12th AGM of B&DCAin March 1939 Mr Stantan reported the previousyear had been a successful one with a slightlyincreased membership. After the AGM therewas a whist drive (Mr Stantan won a consolationprize) and supper, Cornish pasties on the menu.It is interesting to note that 1939 also saw MissLydia Rickard, a local headmistress, elected asPresident. She was a daughter of the late Mr.Edwin Rickard, a native of Redruth.Then WW2 intervened and after that I can findno other reports about the B&DCA, but I assumeit no longer exists.And what of Mr W H C Stantan? We’ve readbefore that he was born in Looe and in 1937 wasliving in Brighouse. In the 1939 Register (com-piled by the Government in September 1939 forthe purpose of issuing identity cards and rationbooks to civilians) his date of birth is transcribed(original illegible to me) as 20th April 1896 andhis address as 94 Grover Road, Bradford. Hisoccupation was Managing Director, WholesaleConfectioner.The 1911 census shows that Wilfrid HughClaude Stantan was then 14, at school and livingwith his parents and one brother at 22 QueensRoad, Bradford. His father was Aaron Stantan,

Cornish Yorkshiremen – a detective story

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56, a clerk for a hosiery manufacturer, born at StCleer, Cornwall. His mother was Alice, 54, bornBristol, and his brother was Leonard Percival,25, a commercial traveller in provisions, bornBanwell, Somerset. His parents had a third child,still living but not at home. The 1901 censusreveals the same family 10 years earlier living in30 Fore Street, East Looe, and in the samehousehold is the third child, 11-year old Cyril B,and two servants. Aaron’s occupation is thendraper shop keeper.W H C Stantan’s marriage to Annie Addy wasregistered in the Bradford District in the Septem-ber quarter 1922. They had two daughters, Mu-riel K born 1923 and Frances V born 1927. Hisdeath was registered in the Worth Valley Districtin the September quarter of 1970, and his dateof birth given as 30 April 1896 (note slight dis-crepancy from his date of birth in the transcrip-tion of the 1939 Register). His wife’s death wasregistered in Liverpool in the June quarter of1983, her date of birth stated as 1 Feb 1895.I hope the above information is of interest toreaders and to the person who made the enquiry.Lorna Leadbetter

The Lemoine AffairThe Cornish contribution to mining around theworld is well known – but what is probably lesswell known is the fact that it was a Cornishmanwho exposed a diamond fraudster in what hasbecome known as The Lemoine Affair.

The diamond industry in the 19th and 20th centu-ries was controlled almost entirely by De Beersin South Africa. The company’s biggest fearwas, understandably, that someone would find away of making artificial diamonds, somethingwhich would have a devastating effect on themarket and prices.In 1905, Frenchman Henri Lemoine announcedthat he had found a way to make artificial dia-monds. When Lemoine’s claim got out, it under-standably, caused panic amongst those whohad invested in natural diamonds. One of thosewho was particularly concerned and was pre-pared to get involved financially to protect themarket, was Sir Julius Wernher who was both abanker and a director of De Beers. He askedLemoine for proof that he could manufacturediamonds and was invited to the Frenchman’s

laboratory in Paris. He took Cornishman FrancisOats and two others with him.Lemoine carried out his demonstration naked sohe could not be accused of hiding diamonds inhis clothes. He mixed various ingredients in acrucible, heated them and then cooled them.When the crucible had cooled, he took out sev-eral small diamonds and passed them aroundfor inspection. After examining them, Oats be-came suspicious about their origin. He was con-vinced they were from the Kimberley area ofSouth Africa. Although Sir Julius Wernher under-stood Oats’ suspicions, he still thought Lemoinehad found the secret – and paid him £64 000over the next three years to stop him makingdiamonds and to have the option of buying thesecret formula.In 1908, Oats was proved correct when a Paris-ian jeweller admitted that he had sold Lemoinethe diamonds - and that they had, in fact, comefrom the Jagersfontein mine, one of De Beers’own mines! Lemoine was eventually convictedof fraud.Marcel Proust was a shareholder in De Beers atthis time and was amongst those who lost a lotof money because of the fraud.We can be very proud that it was a Cornishmanwho was the principal witness in this case, andit was he who had exposed a fraud which wouldhave had dire effects on the world’s diamondindustry. For me, there is an extra reason forpride as he is my great grandfather!

Cornishman Francis Oats

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A Chance Encounter – Or TwoWe planned a flying visit to Cornwall for the10th-13th October to see the recently installedplaque and rose bush added to the burgeoninggarden at Penmere Platform in memory of thetwo men who ‘ran’ the station for many yearsuntil its decommissioning. They were my Dad,Len Grose and his opposite number, Bob Lam-port. We decided to stay in Truro so that wecould revisit the Eden Project, also a garden inprogress, but on a larger scale. The weatherwasn’t kind, a steady drizzle kept the skies greyand people’s heads down.On Saturday we boarded the train on the recent-ly named Maritime Line to meet the leader of theFriends of Penmere Station, Steve Lloyd, on theplatform. It was a very nostalgic journey for me,the gateway to the rest of the country and I wasreliving past journeys when we stopped at Per-ranwell. There, on the platform, waiting to boardthe train was a little lady looking rather confused.Several people went to help her, but shebrushed them away, gesticulating anxiously.Eventually the guard realised that she wantedthe ramp placed between the train and the plat-form. As I watched, the feeling grew that I knewthis lady. When she was settled, I approachedher and said ‘I think I know you, don’t I?’ ‘Ohyes?’ she said ‘You’re a member of the LondonCornish Association, and used to collect withDon Foster for Haven House Children’s Hospicewith me, didn’t you?’ ‘Yes’, she replied – it wasPauline Dyer. I hadn’t realised that she hadreturned ‘home’. She is very happy in her flat inBoslowick. It was lovely to see her, but what acoincidence that we should meet like that.Steve was waiting on the platform and we hadlots to talk about as well as admiring the superbtransformation that he and his crew have madeover the years. He was justly proud of their latestaward which will be added to the impressive listalready shown on a display board. We werejoined by Dave, but unfortunately none of theothers were able to join us. However, Steve didhave a surprise for me. At their ‘Open Platform’celebrations and fund raiser in August, he wasapproached by a lady who introduced herself asBob Lamport’s granddaughter, and Steve hadinvited her to meet me. Amazingly, I was able totell her things about her grandfather that shehadn’t known before. Bob’s name has now beenadded to the plaque, so that their time at Pen-mere is suitably commemorated.

What an eventful few days, I’m so glad we went.Val Harris

RMS Titanic and her CornishPassengers and WorkersBy Robyn Coates(From the newsletter of the Ballarat Branch ofthe Cornish Association of Victoria)One of the recent displays at the National Mari-time Museum concerned the RMS Titanic. Therewere many recovered treasures on display, pho-tos, statistics, costumes from the film, a replicalife boat, posters, and listings of passengers andcrew members I was surprised to read of the sixAustralians who were on board (obviously I needto study more history) and also the number ofCornish.Sixty-one people on board the Titanic were fromCornwall; most did not survive.Of the eleven Cornish crewmen, the most fa-mous is Quartermaster Robert Hichens fromNewlyn, the man who had been at the wheelwhen the ship struck the iceberg. He survived,but his conduct in command of boat six – refus-ing to return to pick up people in the water, tolend a hand rowing and to acknowledge the lightof the rescue ship was anything more than ashooting star - made sure he is never seen asone of the heroes in Titanic Stories.In contrast, the story of passenger Arthur Westof Perranzabuloe is one of the now forgottentales of the quiet heroism of those who remainedon the ship.Travelling with their two children, his wife Adarecalled: ‘Arthur placed lifebelts on the childrenand then carried them to the boat deck …Afterseeing us safely into the lifeboat, Arthur returnedto the cabin for a thermos of hot milk and, findingthe lifeboat let down, he reached it by means ofa rope, gave the flask to me, and with a farewell,returned to the deck of the ship.’Ada and the children survived. Even the flasksurvived. Arthur was never seen again. TheWests were planning to emigrate, as were mostof the other forty-eight passengers (includingfive children), although a few had already settledin America and were returning after a visit torelatives in Cornwall.Thirty-seven of them – including emigrating tinminers – were travelling Second Class (at £12 aticket) and only thirteen in Third Class (at £7/8 a

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ticket). Only sixteen of the sixty-one were res-cued – all five children, seven of the elevenwomen and four crewmen. Not one of the thirty-four male passengers survived.

Welcome Stranger(From the September/October newsletter of theNew Zealand Cornish Association)This year is the 150th anniversary of the findingof the world’s largest recorded nugget of alluvialgold. The solid lump of precious metal wasfound near Dunolly in Victoria, Australia on 5February 1869. It weighed 11 stone (the weightof an average adult) and was valued at the timeat £9,534. At today’s gold prices it would fetchNZ$3.4 million. It would have been a very wel-come stranger to the two men who found it.John Deason was born on the island of Trescoin the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall but moved toPendeen at the age of one after his fishermanfather drowned. He became a tin dresser and in1853 he emigrated to Moliagul, in Victoria, Aus-tralia.A childhood friend, Richard Oates, followed himafter a few months and lived with Deason andhis wife. Oates had also been a tin miner so itwas natural for them to continue mining in someform. The surrounding area was known for thesize of its gold nuggets. The pair had alreadyfound a 34 ounce piece nearby.On the memorable day, Oates was working inthe paddock. Deason went ‘surfacing’ to get dirtfor a puddling machine that used water to sepa-rate gold from dirt. His pick struck somethinghard just below the surface. The rest, as theysay, is history. The two men struggled to releasethe nugget from the soil and that night, gettinglittle sleep, they watched as they burnt off thesurrounding quartz in the fireplace of theirhouse. Realising the potential value of their find,it was transported to Dunolly, the nearest bank,five days later, hidden under Mrs Deason’s longskirts.The nugget proved too heavy for the LondonChartered Bank to weigh in a single piece so hadto be broken up. There are no photographs orofficial pictures of the nugget as a result – onlyapproximate replicas and sketches. There wasone striking feature. The root of a nearby treehad grown through the lump of metal and, whenit was extracted, left a hole in the middle of thenugget. The bank assessed that it was 98.66%pure gold and measured it at over 2,315 oz.

It is said that John Deason lost most of his shareof the proceeds by making poor investments ingold mining ventures. Oates purchased 800acres of land near Bendigo and settled intofarming for the rest of his life.The historic find and the role played by Cornish-men is celebrated by a large statue in the carpark of Tolgus Tin, an industrial heritage touristsite near Redruth in Cornwall

The Man who heard he was deadWhile researching the ... information [on theBradford and District Cornish Association] I hap-pened to find a little snippet in the BirminghamDaily Gazette of 21st June 1928 with the titleMAN WHO HEARD HE WAS DEAD. It relatedto a short account of the recently-held AGM ofour own LCA, when an exchange along theselines took place as the Secretary followed theusual procedure of naming members who hadpassed away since the previous AGM:Secretary: read list of names of deceased,including Mr S Jago.Mr Jago: Beg pardon, I am here.Secretary: Sorry, that’s quite a faux pas.Much laughter.President: It’s an exaggeration.More laughter.Secretary: No, it’s a misprint for “Mrs Jago”.President: Shall I sign the minutes? All satis-fied, except Mr Jago?Mr Jago: Oh, I’m quite satisfied.

The minutes were signed and the meeting pro-ceeded.

I can’t help feeling that Mr Jago’s reply was alittle surprising given that presumably he hadrecently lost his wife!Lorna Leadbetter

By Chris Allen, CC BY-SA 2.0,https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37886393

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USAThe front page of the latest newsletter of theSouthwest Wisconsin Cornish Society showsthe jubilant faces of the Cousin Jacks TheatreGroup who, after a ‘five month tussle with immi-gration’ had finally been granted work visas toenable them to perform the Mousehole Cat atthe 27th Cornish Festival – just days before theFest was due to begin. But the visas were notthe only challenge they faced…’due to arranginglast minute flights and bad flying weather inplaces, they did not arrive in Mineral Point until3.30am the day of the show.’ Despite the stressand the lack of sleep, they ‘put on a stellarperformance’.Amongst the activities for children at the Festwere ‘Mowzer’s Tea Party’ and ‘Games on thePatio’ at the Mineral Point Hotel. Adults wereable to visit the cemetery and enjoy a pub nightas well as Celtic music in the park.  The themefor the Pop-up Museum was ‘Ceremonies andCelebrations’ and included the ceremony of‘Crying the neck’ and a talk and display on‘Wooings and Weddings’.The twinning project between Redruth and Min-eral Point has now completed 20 years. Theexchanges give young people the opportunity toexperience life in each other’s countries.

CANADAAt the end of August, 25 members of the TorontoCornish Association joined ‘representatives ofthe closely related Cornish Society of DurhamRegion (CSDR)’ for a summer picnic.The presentation at the September meeting wasgiven by Tim Douglass who spoke about thelighthouses of Cornwall and those built by hisancestors. In October, John Webb spoke aboutCornwall and its role in the British Child Migra-tion Program. This looked at the work of theBritish Home Child Advocacy and ResearchAssociation who are dedicated to bringing thestories of these children to life.The Association’s Annual Christmas Celebrationwill take place early in December.

AUSTRALIAMembers of the Cornish Association of Victoriaheard a most interesting talk on the History ofthe Handkerchief, given by someone from the

Heidelberg Historical society. The President ofCAV, in commenting on the talk says ‘/ learnt anumber of things such as the origin of the term:‘hanky panky’ which meant the use of handker-chiefs as special signals for courting couplescenturies ago. Young men and women oftenwore the handkerchief of a loved one on theirsleeve, hence the origin of the term: ‘wearingyour heart on your sleeve’.The topic for the talk in October was ‘Separation,Gold and Prosperity - Victoria after the GoldRush – 1851-1858’. The year 1851 was verysignificant in the Port Phillip District because inthat year, the District separated from New SouthWales and gold was discovered.Planning is underway for St Piran’s Day 2020which will be held in Ballarat. The GorsedhCouncil has approved a request for a BardicCeremony to be held on 7th March, as part of thecelebrations.The Association’s final meeting of the year willbe their Annual Christmas Concert with the As-sociation’s choir.Early in December, the Ballarat Branch of theCornish Association of Victoria will hold theirChristmas Lunch.Meanwhile, planning for St Piran’s Day in Marchis underway. There will be a full weekend ofevents, including a flag raising ceremony in frontof the Town Hall, a bus tour of Creswick and aBardic ceremony. On the last day, delegates willhear a talk about the Mt Pleasant area afterwhich there will be a driving/walking tour of thearea. The celebrations will end with a paradearound Lake Wendouree in which there will betartan and banners aplenty.The Cornish Association of New South Walesheld its End of Year Lunch in late November ata restaurant on Circular Quay, a lovely areawhich I know well, having spent many happyhours around there in my youth!At their AGM in August, members of the Cor-nish Association of South Australia wereasked to consider some changes to the constitu-tion – which had last been amended in 1991. Anagreement on the final version was reached.

UKThe Bournemouth Cornish Association heldtheir 98th Annual Dinner in October, a most

News from other Cornish Associations

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enjoyable event which was attended by 41 mem-bers and guests. There was good representationfrom other Associations. The guest speaker atthis event was Peter Maynard, Chairman of theThames Valley Cornish Association. Those whostayed overnight were treated to a Sundaylunch of pasties and a delicious array of dessertsbefore heading off home.In September, several members of the ThamesValley Cornish Association met for an enjoya-ble buffet lunch in Dorney. They will hold apre-Christmas gathering at the end of Novemberand will kick-start the New Year with a lunch atthe ever-popular Stafferton Lodge in Maiden-head. This is one of the Association’s mostpopular events of the year.

National Library and Archive Centre ofCornwallOtherwise known by its nickname, Kresen Ker-now (‘Cornwall Centre’), it is located in LittleVauxhall, Redruth in the old Brewery. It is hometo the world’s largest collection of documents,books, maps and photographs related to Corn-wall’s history. Everyone is welcome to visit andexplore these amazing collections, or see whatit has through the web site.Kresen Kernow is a state-of-the-art new archivecentre built in the shell of the former RedruthBrewery. As well as 14 miles of shelving to storeover 1.5 million of Cornwall’s treasured archives,the centre has exhibition spaces, learning roomsand a digitisation suite. Visitors can carry outresearch, pop in and browse, or take part in ourvaried activity programme featuring workshops,courses and fun family or school group events.Opened on 7 September, 2019 the facility pro-vides public access, and research areas.The new archival storage and retrieval facilitiesare state of the art. It brings together materialfrom the old County Record Office, Local Stud-ies Centre, and a number of other public andprivate collections. New equipment will enhancestorage, preservaton, retrieval, and study.

The Lord Mayor’s Show is 804years old. It has been a fixture ofLondon life for centuries, from itsorigins as a way to make the citybehave - didn’t work - throughmediæval carnival and imperialspectacle to become the world’sgreatest unrehearsed civic proces-sion and its longest-running TVshow.The modern Show is a joyful anddiverse civic parade of over 6000people, with dozens of marchingbands, military detachments, car-riages, dance troupes, inflatables,giant contraptions and ceremonial

displays. Every year is different and surprising, combining London’s ancient pomp, rowdy patch-work heritage and modern dynamism to create a spectacle unlike anything else in the world.https://lordmayorsshow.london/

Spotted in the 2019 Lord Mayor’s Show

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Our readers will be sorry to hear that GrahamPearce has decided the time has come to to putdown his pen after many, many years of ‘Mean-dering’. Over the years, he has shared his loveof Cornwall, his passion for pasties, some per-sonal stories and many, often humorous, anec-dotes. As he Meanders off, we can reflect onsome of his earlier columns and enjoy, onceagain, some of his thoughts.Graham loves Cornwall and proudly shared thenews that the Olympic Torch for London’s 2012Games had entered the UK via Land’s End,having travelled from Athens in a Humphry Davylamp. He further revelled in the fact that ‘the firstGold Medal won by Team GB was awarded to aCornish girl from Newlyn who attended the Hum-phry Davy School in Penzance’. Helen Glover’sname sounded very familiar and, after a bit ofdetective work, Graham confirmed that he hadbeen at school with Helen’s father!His favourite corner of the county is his home-town of Hayle and he often shared stories fromthat area. In discussing the Hayle Causewaywhich was built in 1825 he said: This was built inresponse to the town’s growing importance as aport and industrial centre. Before then,…, thejourney across the sandy estuary could be dan-gerous and several died as they misjudged thetides. Before the causeway was built the narrowand very old St. Erth bridge was used to get toPenzance. However, some carts still wentacross the sand at low tides which was hazard-ous and dangerous. The cost of building thecauseway and two bridges needed to cross theestuary was £5,000, rather a lot of money in theearly 19th century. A toll charge brought somecontribution towards this investment. Walkerswere charged halfpenny to cross, horses 1 pen-ny, carts two pence and coaches sixpence. Theincome from these toll charges was estimated tobe about £580 a year. The ancient St. Erthbridge had been in use for centuries before thecauseway was constructed, but even a hundredyears before the motor car became the ‘king ofthe road’ the bridge was proving inadequate forthe task.Another story from Hayle refers to a local pub: Iam not sure whether the following is actually factor fiction but it does make a good story: A pub,near Phillack Church in Hayle, dates from the18th century and is traditionally named the‘Bucket of Blood’. Its name and smuggling herit-

age refers to a story that a customs officer wasmurdered and thrown down the well from wherethe unsuspecting landlord drew up a bucket ofblood water!There were stories from his childhood too...I remember as a schoolboy going with my par-ents for picnics on the beach at Hayle. Wewalked from our home near Ventonleage, acrossthe Recreation Ground up the hill towards Phil-lack. At the top of the hill we crossed a stone stileand carried on across the Towans through thesand dunes and small valleys onto the dunesthat led down to the beach where we sat and hadour picnic.During one such picnic in 1942, the family wereon the beach when St Ives was bombed -when we were in the sea, we saw some aero-planes fly over towards St. Ives and suddenlythere were flames, smoke and bangs at St. Ives.We realised that these were German planes andunder instructions from my father we hurriedback to the sand dunes to take cover and behidden. On another occasion, we witnessed atwin-engine plane which I believe may havebeen a Wellington Bomber, come very lowacross the sea. It slid onto the beach near theHayle river estuary and disappeared out of ourview behind the Black Cliffs of Rivera Towans.Graham’s wife, Jenny also remembers thebombing. She said - One plane dropped its lastbomb on Penpol, Feock. Luckily it landed in thickcreek mud and did no damage. According toGraham, she recalls going down to the Creekthe next day with her father and friends to admirethe crater and see the remains of the bomb.Graham is a great advocate of the Cornish pastyand, in 2012, expressed his dismay at the possi-bility of what became known as a ‘Pasty Tax’,saying ‘how ridiculous that a tax will depend onthe temperature of the food; how are you goingto tell the temperature of a pasty when you go tobuy one. Imagine going into the shop and say-ing, ‘I’ll hang on until the pasty is a bit cooler’!’He is an avid reader of Cornish papers and inone of these, he came across an article whichstated that the earliest known pasty recipe datesfrom 1746 as a lunch for Cornish tin miners. Thiswas contradicted in a subsequent responsewhich emphatically stated ‘Cornish pasties wereeaten by fishermen of the area, long before tinminers arrived.’

Meandering off…

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Graham was mortified that a pasty competition... was won by a pasty containing pineapple. Asa Cornishman, I say that is not a pasty! Inanother ‘Meandering’, And he was intrigued bythe fact that ‘Rowe’s Cornish Bakers has madehistory by literally sending Cornwall’s famousspeciality into space. The challenge took placewhen a hand crimped pasty was launched intothe stratosphere reaching 35,482 metres. Theintrepid pasty was sent on its mission on aweather balloon from Hayle Community School.It coincided with a space project the school’sstudents were undertaking.The riddle about how a pasty should be crimpedoften cropped up. His explanation on one occa-sion – ‘I was always told that it depends on whatpart of Cornwall you are in as to where thecrimping is on the pasty: far down towardsLand’s End the crimping is around the edge sothe pasty can be held by it when it is being eatendown in the mine. As you move up throughCornwall they crimp the pasty in different ways.In mid Cornwall it is part way up the side and upnorth of the county it is across the middle…Forme, it doesn’t matter where the crimping is I stillenjoy a good pasty, particularly the ones that mywife makes, yum, yum.’And it is not only humans who enjoy a goodpasty – ‘Seagulls are hitting the news for theiractivity in Cornwall, particularly St. Ives, wherethey enjoy stealing people’s ice creams or atleast diving down to grab them. I believe it is notonly ice creams they like, but sandwiches andpasties, they seem to be connoisseurs of Cor-nish delicacies!’When Graham’s wife was in hospital last year,she was served an NHS Cornish pasty... Whenit arrived, I was very disappointed, and I am sureyou will now hold up your hands in horror whenI tell you it was made with puff pastry and filledwith what tasted like sausage meat with gratedcarrot and potato.Graham has been a member of the LCA formany years and over the time he was writing hisMeanderings shared many memories of the ‘olddays – there was a time when we had a largenumber of members who were in their teens andtwenties. In the late 1950s a club was formedespecially for them. It was known as The Trel-awny Club and it catered for many interests andactivities. The LCA’s annual brochure declaredthat Membership is open to all members of theAssociation who are under 30 years of age. Theprogramme includes Theatre Parties Swimming

Parties, Informal Socials and Dances, RecordSessions, Rambles, etc’The LCA membership was larger in earlier daysand the programme could be much more exten-sive. He reports that in one November in the1960s, the events arranged were:10th Pasty Supper at Chelsea Community Cen-tre12th Dancing Classes at Westbourne School ofDancing13th Skating at Streatham Ice Rink15th University Lecture at University College18th Ramble in Surrey19th Dancing Classes at Westbourne School ofDancing20th Skating at Streatham Ice Rink22nd BBC Orchestral Concert25th Church Service, 5.50 p.m. St. Martins-in-the-Fields28th Dance at Warwickshire House.Graham was intrigued to find the followingrecords from the Log Book of CopperhouseWesleyan School, Hayle:June 3rd 1935During the weekend seven children and theheadmaster have been to London as guests ofThe London Cornish Association. The trip wasorganised by the Education Committee.That Headmaster was my father, he never men-tioned this...I will end this tribute to Graham’s Meanderingswith one of my favourite of his anecdotes. Itrelates to Stephen Hawker, writer of The Songof the Western Men and was found in a 1925copy of ‘Kernow Cornwall’:‘Cornwall has given birth to, or fostered a great-er number of eccentric people than any othercounty. Of these some of the most noteworthyare clergymen, but of all parochialclergy none could be more peculiar or lovablethan Stephen Hawker of Morwenstow.’‘He was born in 1804 and became Vicar ofMorwenstow in 1824 until his death in 1875.From his boyhood he was an incorrigible practi-cal joker. As a young man he played amermaid hoax on Bude where he dressed as amermaid and, sitting on a moonlit rock in thesea, flashed beams from a hand-mirror whilstsinging in a strident falsetto.’What Graham found particularly amusing wasthe magazine’s reference to the fact that Hawker‘excommunicated his cat for hunting mice onSundays’.

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Crowdy CrawnTruro's hedgehog roundabout namedbest in UKThe Trafalgar Roundabout in Truro, where four‘hedgehogs’ took up residence in July, has beenvoted the best roundabout in the UK by theRoundabout Appreciation Society.The four hedgehogs, Cecile, Patricia, Denzil andKizzy – which are made from coppiced wood –were put on the roundabout by the Wild Truroteam and the Truro City Parks Department toshow that Truro is wildlife friendly.In congratulating Truro on its achievement, thePresident of the RAS said, ‘We always like tosee something quirky and with a bit of imagina-tion’.The Hedgehog Roundabout will feature on boththe December page and the cover of the RAS’s2020 calendar.

Great excitement as rare moth returnsto CornwallThere was great excitement this summer whena rare moth, thought to have disappeared fromCornwall more than a decade ago, was found tohave returned to the county.The Narrow-bordered Bee Hawk-moth wasfound on Goss Moor National Nature Reserve.The species was last seen on Bodmin Moor in2008 but this find confirms the exciting news thatthe moth is breeding in Cornwall once again.The moth is a day-flying moth which looks ratherlike a bumble bee, having a yellow and blackabdomen and transparent wings with blackveins.The moth was identified by a volunteer carryingout a habitat survey. She said: ‘I was at GossMoor helping to carry out a habitat survey forNatural England, who manage the NationalNature Reserve. I was recording Devil’s-bitScabious plants and saw the head of a cater-pillar poking above one of the leaves lookingup at me. I turned over the leaf and saw thedistinctive pink horn on its tail and I knewstraight away what it was!’

The railway comes to Cornwall – andnot just to ship oreIn the late 18th and early 19th century, Cornishcopper and tin ores had to be carried to market

by mule, along stony tracks. However, every-thing changed with the advent of the railway.Now, greater volumes of ore could be movedmore easily and more quickly.In the early days, the main purpose of the rail-way was to move goods, not people. In Victoriantimes, however, people began to have moreleisure time, and used the railways to go onexcursions – often to the seaside. Companiessuch as Thomas Cook began to arrange outings,which became very popular.Interestingly, not all excursions were to the sea-side. The Bodmin-Wadebridge railway, the firstin the county to carry passengers introducedsome novelty excursions – to view public execu-tions at Bodmin Jail! Trainloads of people camefrom all over Cornwall to witness the executions.Inns and lodging houses were fully booked thenight before and travelling fairs added to thespectacle.

Cornish first to get news of TrafalgarvictoryOn 4th November each year, Pickle Night iscelebrated in Portsmouth. This is a reminder ofthe journey taken in 1805 by Lieutenant JohnLapenotier, to bring the king news of England’svictory at the Battle of Trafalgar and let him knowabout Lord Nelson’s death.Lieutenant Lapenotier was in charge of HMSPickle, a Royal Navy schooner which, althoughpresent at the Battle of Trafalgar, was not en-gaged in the fighting because she was too small.After the battle, Vice Admiral Collingwood, whohad taken over command of the fleet, wanted tosend despatches to London with news of thevictory and Nelson’s demise. Lieutenant Lap-enotier was asked to take HMS Pickle becauseit was a fast ship. He was, however, delayed forsome time by bad storms. As soon as the weath-er cleared, the Pickle headed off towards Eng-land, and landed at Falmouth on 4th November.After disembarking, Lapenotiere started the 271-mile journey to London in a chaise. This tookabout 38 hours during which there were 21 stopsto change horses! The trip cost £46 (about£3,800 in today’s money!). As soon as he ar-rived, he delivered the dispatches to the Admi-ralty. In recognition of his efforts, he waspromoted to Commander.Lapenotier retired to Menheniot with his familyand died in 1834. He is buried in St Lalluwychurch