Callington --Hallett

[calswimmer]

Well, thanks for letting me post this even though it isn't in the Penwith area. I'm not very optimistic about this query since I've already worked pretty hard on the family in question and since it is also outside the area, but here goes...Jane Hallett was born 1804 in Callington, according to what she later says in the census in Pembroke Dock. At one point she says she was born in Plymouth. She married Wm. Streets in Pembroke St. Mary 1831--and I have her in the census after that. There are a number of Halletts there in Pembrokeshire (possibly from Birmingham) , but none can be closer than cousins, and there are some Halletts in Callington in the census who could be brothers, I think. I can't figure out who else was in her family and why she went to Pembroke Dock. I don't think the family were in Callington for a long time before her birth. It doesn't sem to be a name common to that area.

[Cornish Terrier]

Have just done a search of things relating to Callington and, so far, not much luck.
If you do a 'google' search for the name 'Callington' it brings up lots of entries (I had a quick look at the first 200) but many of them relate to tourism, B+B accomodation, property rental and sale and - 'The Callington Online Singles Dating Service'!

I also checked the Online Parish Clerk site but the OPC for Callington is currently unavailable and will be advising email details etc. at a later date.

Now to try and offer some advice resulting from your posting.

Hallett is not, I would think, a Cornish surname and it certainly does not appear in Pawley-White's 'Handbook of Cornish Surnames'.

In which Census did you find the Hallett name at Callington.
(I have not actually done a search on it as yet because it might be quicker if you tell me.)

If the Census is 1851 or after it should give a place of birth for the people concerned and that could point to something of use.

The fact that Jane went to Pembroke Dock could have been for any number of reasons.
It could have been employment, some part of family already in the area, origins of future husband etc.

But the fact she seems to state Callington as birthplace in one Census and then as Plymouth in another is interesting.
It suggests to me the possibility that she may well have been born in Devon (Plymouth possibly) and that the family were in Callington for a time whilst Jane was a child.

I would be inclined to start checking out the Plymouth area of Devon for one excercise.

The other suggestion I have is that you contact either the Cornwall Record Office in Truro or the Cornish Studies Library in Redruth to see what help they can give.

Certainly the CRO at Truro would be likely to have Callington Records although many may have gone to Exeter at some time.

Another option for Redruth is to contact another of our members - 'CORNISHMAID' who may be able to check a couple of things there for you.

That seems to be about the best I can do for just now so keep adding and I will keep checking on whatever else you might come up with.

[calswimmer]

Thanks, yeah I also thought probably she was born in Plymouth and just lived for awhile in Callington. It is in the 1871 census that she states Plymouth, and an earlier one that she states Callington. What exactly does Plymouth mean? Is it a whole area? Or a town?
Thanks for the info about the Hallett name not being Cornish. I had a feeling that was so. I think Callington was a mining area for awhile so maybe her family was doing that. Her husband was born in Pembroke, so she probably didn't go there to marry him. She probably went to be with the other Halletts who are obviously related to her in some way. They end up living very close to each other.
I'll take your advice and look into Plymouth some more!

[cornishmaid]

Hi there,

If you look on www.aboutbritain.com/maps/callington-map.asp, it shows you where Callington and Plymouth are in relation to each other. Not very far apart really.

Plymouth is a city in Devon, just over the border from Cornwall.

Hope this helps

[Cornish Terrier]

Well Hello!
Plymouth is just about the last outpost of the 'Furreners'
(Not sure if I spelled that correctly but it is meant to mean the foreign invasion of Cornwall - in a manner of speaking)
In fact - down around the St Ives and Penzance area, at least up until not many years gone, anyone from East of that general area was known as a 'foreigner'!

Anyway, if you follow the main highway down through Devon (A38) it skirts the Southern Border of Dartmoor and leads to Plymouth which is actually quite a large town.
Without looking at my books - I think it was Plymouth Sound from whence the Quakers set forth for the Americas back in the 1600's.

I believe 'Plymouth Rock' was named as their landing point?

So Plymouth is now a fairly large town/city on the SW Coast of England and very near the Tamar River which is the border between Devon and Cornwall.
On the A38, after you cross the Tamar Bridge is Saltash which is the first 'major' town in Cornwall as you head West on the South route.
If you take the A30 along the Northern edge of Dartmoor you come to Launceston which is the other major Cornish town/city at that end of the County.
Either way - if you follow the A30 through Launceston or the A38 through Saltash you will arrive at Bodmin.

I will post another note with a few snippets of history about Callington.

[cornishmaid]

They still are furriners! They lives in England see!! ;D

[Cornish Terrier]

A Few Snippets about Callington.

From Arthur Mee's Cornwall - 1937

CALLINGTON. This pleasant market town lies south of Kit Hill, the great viewpoint 1100 feet high from which we see the winding valley of the Tamar and Plymouth Sound, the hill on which the first King of England is said to have beaten the Danes, and Hingston Down, where long before that Hengist and Horsa are believed to have camped.
It has an old cross and a new one by its church, the old one with the crucifixion, the Madonna, and two saints in its lantern head; and in a farmyard a mile away is one of the most charming holy wells in Cornwall, with a chapel over it in memory of two knights who fought a duel for a lady and both died for her. Its walls are of rough-hewn granite blocks, its roof has rude pinnacles, and over the doorway is a curious little erection which may have been a bellcot.

(There is further here about the church and information of the year 1438 and also (then) recent discoveries of old roodstairs and the 'massive old altar stone'.)

There is mention of :-
The alabaster tomb is that of first Lord Willoughby de Broke ..... Order of the Garter ....
'The man who lies in this magnificence at Callington was on Bosworth Field at the birth of the Tudor dynasty, and was made Marshal of the Army by Henry the Seventh, ....'

And then:-
The little town will not soon forget the day when it was plunged into mourning by the laying of three members of one household in a single grave, Mr and Mrs Cobbledick and their daughter Bertha, all dying within a few hours. .............

There may be a little more from another book - so Stand By!

[Cornish Terrier]

Sorry - the other book I have that I thought may have had a little more information was of no help in this case.
I may have other information in other books but don't have the time now to check them all.

[calswimmer]

Thanks for all this, Cornish Terrier.
Well, yes I do know about setting sail from Plymouth and all that--half of my ancestry is connected to that story and it is very fun to research the colonies. My question was just about whether when Jane indicated she was born in Plymouth it might be a general area she is referring to, or just a town, and from your response it seems to be the latter, which helps me narrow my search. I have a feeling it was a family on the move.

[calswimmer]

I had some good luck and although I did not find the Hallett side, I did find the marriage of Jane Hallett's parents in Callington. As both were "sojourners," I was able to find good records showing her mother's origins in Linkinhorne, and found many more relatives on that side of the family. If anyone else has ancestors in Linkinhorne, you might find callington area heritage (at callingtonheritage.org) helpful. Many vital records from parishes are listed. Maybe the same records are elsewhere too--if anyone who can direct me to more Linkinhorne records, that would be great.

[Cornish Terrier]

Hi Calswimmer - it has taken a few years but good to hear at least some progress has been made with those Halletts.

I can help a little with Linkinhorne records. Not sure how much has been transcribed for the OPC site but you could try there and see what you can find. The better option, although much more work and much slower, is with FamilySearch who have images for most of the Linkinhorne PRs available online. Coverage is from the very first extant register dating from 1576 and then there are baptisms up to 1910, burials to 1894 and marriages to 1902.

If you have any difficulty let me know and I will try and help.

CT

BTW - I don't know if you have Ancestry subs but I believe all these FamilySearch records are now also available on Ancestry.

[calswimmer]

Thanks, Cornish Terrier. I didn't realize FamilySearch had the scanned records. I'll slog through them in case there is something that didn't show up in transcription yet, and will look at some nearby areas.

What I have so far (based partly on inferences) is that Elizabeth Bate, born 1764 in Linkinhorne, married Thomas Hallett 1792 in Callington. I have a list of their children. Elizabeth Bate had a sister Joan, also born in Linkinhorne, who married William Cornish in Callington in 1797. The parents of Joan and Elizabeth appear to be Digory Bate and Christian Dingle, who lived in a farm, with farmhouse, Gullacombe, which has been preserved as a heritage site. They sold the farm at some point to a son-in-law with the last name Davey. The Bates appear to have also owned or leased a place called Trerafters, also in Linkinhorne. Some of the children of Thomas Hallett and Elizabeth Bate went to Pembrokeshire, Wales, early in the 1800's. Why, I don't know. Maybe there were relatives there.
I am putting Joan and Elizabeth together as sisters because girls of that name were born to Digory Bate and Christian Dingle, and girls of that name married in Callington as sojouners. But they might not be sisters and the parents I have named might be aunt and uncle. More evidence is needed. If anyone knows any of these people, please help me round out this family.

[Cornish Terrier]

I am putting Joan and Elizabeth together as sisters because girls of that name were born to Digory Bate and Christian Dingle, and girls of that name married in Callington as sojouners. But they might not be sisters and the parents I have named might be aunt and uncle. More evidence is needed. If anyone knows any of these people, please help me round out this family.

There are three ways to check on those girls to get an idea if they might have been sisters:-
1. If at all possible you need to get a look at the marriage records for each and see who the witnesses were. With any luck there will be a sibling or, even better, the father and hopefully they will have signed rather than making a 'mark'.
2. Check the names of the children of each of the girls to see if they may have used family names. Usually children would be named for parents and paternal grandparents first but maternal names would hopefully be used as well. If you find Digory and or Christian amongst them there you might be in business.
3. Use the Census records to gather information about the girls that might help pin them down. 1851 should give birthplaces and more accurate ages but look for possible relatives in the household in both 1841 and 1851 also.

Unfortunately it is difficult to get Callington records and I have not seen any images of the original registers but gather what you can from any transcriptions you can find. You could always contact the Cornwall Record Office and order copies of the marriage records for each of the girls. That way you would get to see the signiatures of witnesses and any other information that might have been recorded.

CT

[calswimmer]

Thanks--those are good suggestions. The main problem with the census is that the girls are quite old by 1841 or 1851, if alive. I find a few contenders...will see if anyone else is researching the families to circle those wagons. I'm very happy in any case to find many Bates in Linkinhorne and I am sure they are relatives. If only there were an 1800 census. There was some land tax assessment in the early 1800s and it was clear that my Hallett family was no longer present at that time. I think Thomas Hallett had died and the children went off to Wales, where I'm guessing there was an aunt or uncle or better job prospects.

[Cornish Terrier]

There was a lot of mining in Wales, including gold, so many Cornishmen made there way in that direction. From before 1800 you can find Cornish names in the Welsh records and many of them came from the West of Cornwall so it is not so unusual that you might find ancestors from the East of Cornwall also venturing there.

Another option you might consider given there are suggestions of Devon links is to get in contact with the Devon OPCs.

CT