Land owners in the 1700s

[phillip]

Is there a way to find out if my family owned land in Gulval or Madron in the 1700s? I know the Bond family lived in the 2 towns.  I will be in the Penzance area in March of 2017, so can go to a public records office if possible...I have found online the Parish records, and it has been most helpful...Thank you. I am looking forward to the Cornwall trip. I will be my first visit...

[pollyq]

Hi Phillip, do you have an Ancestry subscription? If you do you can access the "UK, Land Tax Redemption records, 1798"

These records can be browsed through, by choosing a county. These records have handy sections that list the parishes covered in each section. I would suggest you browse rather than use the search form because, quite frankly, the transcriptions are appalling in places and a search could miss vital information.

For the area you're interested in you'll want Vol.2, start at image 81 of 631 for the index page of the West Penwith area.

The records list both land owners, and the occupiers of the property. So it is very handy to see whose renting the property if it's not occupied by the owner themselves.

These records are held at the National Archives, so not something that can be seen at the Cornwall Records Office.

However, I would suggest you search the Cornwall Records Office online catalogue to see if deeds survive for the Gulval and Madron area that mention your ancestor's surname. It's surprising what you can find through the CRO

[phillip]

Thank you Pollyq...I can stop by the library and use the Ancestry Library addition... This looks very helpful!

[donne]

I would suggest that if the family actually owned land, then there would exist family wills which would mention the land. There is a comprehensive catalogue of wills in the CRO catalogue, or search the Discovery catalogue at The National Archives website which would also list wills proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. If the family leased land, rather than owning it, you may also be lucky in finding leases which have survived in the archive - again, try searching the CRO catalogue with various combinations of family name and parish.

[phillip]

Thank you donne. The Bonds lived in Gulval and Madron for more than a hundred years, so there is a great chance of seeing the name Bond in the CRO catalogue. I know starting in 1841, the UK Census is a excellent resource. After Madron, I have found they moved to Newlyn/Paul and ST. Just. Things gets Sketchy going back before 1600, including early spellings of Bonde and Bande.

[donne]

I must admit that on a preliminary search I can't find any Bond wills in the CRO catalogue for the parishes you mention, nor in azazella's very useful probate database accessed via webs.lanset.com/azazella/cornish_database.html . Maybe you could tell us a bit more about the branch of the family you are interested in?