Welcom to the St Buryan Site

[Cornish Terrier]

This is not the actual place for posting but purely a welcome message.
Those of you interested in the Parish of St Buryan need only to log into this site, click on the 'New Thread' buttom and tell us what you know or want to know.

For those who know little about St Buryan I would suggest you start your queries here and we will work from that!

St Buryan was, and still possibly is, an Archdeaconry in Cornwall so most of it's records came under a different jurisdiction to the rest of it's surrounding Parishes.

So, in general, we need to consider that we may need to look elsewhere for many records that might reasonably be thought to have been held at the Cornwall Record Office.

Times are changing but it is still possible that other sources may need to be searched for St Buryan documents.

Once you all start posting your queries we might find out a little more so please get started ...

[Zenobia]

ianjtrewhella said:

St Buryan was, and still possibly is, an Archdeaconry in Cornwall so most of it's records came under a different jurisdiction to the rest of it's surrounding Parishes.

Actually...it's Peculiar... ;D

[Cornish Terrier]

Grrrr.....!
Too lazy to search out my books now - but I think it was an Archdeaconry at one stage.

Quite prepared to be wrong - 'goldarnit' just found something that says it was/is a 'Royal Peculiar'.

To quote Fleetwood Mac - 'OH WELL - Pts 1 and 2' (1969)

[azoulay]

very new to this so I do apologise in advance for any etiquette slipups - but particularly interested in Enoch Tonkins and Betsy Tonkins (nee Hutchens) of St. Buryan who went to Australia (Adelaide) in 1839/40 on the Java - particularly their parents and siblings back home in Cornwall... any ideas/help/comments/guidance - also intrigued as to how to get hold of general records dating from 1500 - 1700?

[Cornish Terrier]

Good to 'see' you here in a section more particular to your requirements.

As stated in the Welcome Thread I will help as best I can based on, initially, information you can provide.

1500-1700's in that part of Cornwall is a bit of a problem given the amount of records missing or destroyed.

We need to find wome specific information on Enoch and Betsy to help guide us but I should think we might be able to get back to at least 1700 if we work carefully.

Beyond that, in places like Sennen and St Levan in particular, we may need to rely on Wills or other documentation.

St Buryan also has 'lost' records and some other Parishes in the area have not, as yet, been fully transcribed.

Throw us as much as you can for us to get started properly and let us see what can be done.

[cornishmaid]

Hi Azoulay, and welcome

Can I just clarify that Enoch Tonkin and Betsy Hutchen married in St Levan on 19 April 1823? Witnesses: William Hutchens and James Tonkin. Enoch Tonkin stated as being a Joiner/Carpenter at the time. (Just to make sure we've got the right one. )

I only ask because there is another marriage at St Buryan of James Tonkin, Fisherman of St Levan, and Nancy Hutchens of St Buryan on 27 October 1827, Witnesses Nichs. Hutchens and ? Jenkins.

Were James and Enoch, and Betsy and Nancy related?

Will have a longer look at this one tomorrow. ;D

[cornishmaid]

Have just had a look on the IGI, and there is a bit on Enoch and Betsy. Enoch's siblings are listed as follows, all baptised in St Levan:

Constance bapt. 19 Jan 1794
Richard bapt. 23 September 1795
Honour bapt. 18 November 1798
William bapt. 24 March 1801
James bapt. 28 August 1803

Enoch baptised 19 March 1797.

Parents of the above: Richard Tonkin and Honour.

Haven't got time to check these out further at the moment. Is this the family you're talking about? Will check back tomorrow

[Cornish Terrier]

I look forward to the results of this conversation and will look into it a little more thoroughly when I am 'less thoroughly' tired.

Keep the information flowing and I will certainly see what I can add.

[cornishmaid]

A little bit more... (working backwards):

A Richard Tonkin married an Honour Guy at St Levan on 26 October 1793.

Richard's parents are listed as Enoch Tonkin and Constance.
Enoch and Constance baptised the following children at St Levan:
Richard born 4 January 1772, bapt. 17 January 1772
Ann born 9 December 1773, bapt. 16 January 1774
Constance bapt. 25 August 1776, died 23 June 1780
Enoch bapt. 27 August 1780

There is a marriage of an Enoch Tonkin and a Constance Jelbard on 26 October 1766 in St Levan. If these are the parents of the above then it would suggest additional children were born between 1766 and 1772. Or, there may be another Enoch and Constance marrying nearer to 1770 ish. No time at the moment to pursue right now, but will be back later . May just wait to see if this is correct family line before proceeding further.

Ah, just found the baptism of an Elizabeth Tonkin, bapt. 9 August 1767, St. Levan, Father: Enoch (no mother listed).

And, for Ann Tonkin listed above, another transcription states that she was bapt on 16 JUNE 1774 and not 16 JANUARY 1774. Another reason to check the original parish registers

[trencrom]

This is why I do not like the online IGI -- how do you search for all the children of a couple when only the father's name was recorded, as was often the case.
A local library still has the old version of the computer IGI which I am inclined to prefer for that reason. ditto the fiche.

[Cornish Terrier]

Given it is this family being the subject of the enquiry then Cornishmaid appears to be correct so far.

The elder Enoch was, I believe, the same Enoch Tonkin baptised at Sennen 29th April 1729 as son of James Tonkin. (I am yet to find a marriage for James).

And it appears Enoch was married twice.
His first marriage, according to my records, was to Elizabeth SHARPLES at Sennen 12th March 1750.
Elizabeth was buried at St Levan 27th April 1755.

As for the Birth/Baptism of daughter Anne:-

I have the Baptism as 16th January 1774 also.

This was taken from a Transcript of the St Levan Parish Register undertaken by Bill Curnow some years ago and I would be inclined to trust his work.

Will try to do a little more once we have confirmation we are working with the correct Enoch Tonkin.

[mickharvey]

Hi

As a newby I am not sure of where everything is at the moment.

My area of interest covers the Harvey, Harvie and good old Abednigo's Harvye. I have fairly reliable records up to Abednego 1650. The fiches for St Buryan Baptisms stop @ 1653. The OPC site c1863 or there abouts. I am in the process of ordering necessary St.Buryan fiches but not that other records are available because of the status of the Parish.

I have acquired records, researched by another, that take the Harvey direct line back to a John Hervey 1290 of Thurleigh, Bedfordshire. However, these still have to be validated.

It appears after moving to Surrey & Northumberland, back to Surrey before ending up in Cornwall somewhere between 1558 and 1562. Unfortunately the place of birth is not recorded nor are the derivations of the spelling. The researcher who carried out this work simply recorded the change in name from Hervey to Harvey around 1504. This was then the spelling used through out the remaining records.

If any one has knowledge of variations of the spelling of the surname pre 1650 I would be very pleased to hear from you.

As far as I am aware Abednego had two brothers John (1643), Peter (1657) and a sister Faith (1665) presumably all spelt Harvye

There father is believed to be Thomas (1599) married to (unknown). Thomas is believed to be the son of Francis (1562) and Mary York (1567). Francis was the first to be born in Cornwall.

Also if any one has knowledge of Abednego Harvye his baptism and wife Mary's maiden name.

Hope this is not to windy but I got to ask! Look forward to hearing from you and for any help that can be offered. Particularly as to how to access the Royal Peculiar Records.

[tonymitch]

Hi there Mick

I think....

A Royal Peculiar means that the Bishop had no control over the parish and it was governed by the Crown.

St Buryan was in fact a Deanary...that is the 'incumbant' was not just a simple Vicar or Rector, but a Dean. A Dean is usually the head cleric of a Cathedral and heads the 'committee' of Canons, and in this case the Dean was appointed by the Crown. (But I don't think he had a Cathedral)

As St Buryan is at the other end of the world as far as the Crown was concerned, the Dean rarely attened the Parish and, as I understand it, sometimes NEVER. The result was that the papaerwork was rarely if ever filled in....hence...the records are as rare as rockinhorse manure.

Others might know how to access what bits of scraps of paper (or parchment) still exist or the Cornwall Records Office (CRO) might help.

Also, have a look at the West Penwith Resources site and the On Line Parish Clerk (OPC) will have lots of info for you.

All my Harvey stuff starts with Abednego (1717) and his daughter Blanche thence to her daughter Tabitha Hall who married Nicholas Uren. Their son Abednego (Benjamin) Harvey Uren had a son Charles who married my great aunt Mary Ann Mitchell.

A closer and more direct link for me is Lavinia Harvey who married James Mitchell in 1799. The 1841 census has a Samuel Harvey aged 70 (presumably Lavinia's father) living with my lot at Boscarne Vean.

Memory tells me that Boscarne Vean was also the residence of the Harveys before my lot took over (could be wrong here, but have a look at CRO stuff for the deeds of Boscarne Vean)

Good hunting

Tony M

[marychown]

Hi Tony,

I do believe that your Abednego Harvey (if he was baptised at Paul on 30 November 1717) was a brother of my James Harvey (baptised at Paul on 26 Dec 1715), both probably being the sons of James Harvey and Margaret Hullah (Holla) who were married at Paul on 29 September 1714.

Mary

[HeatherC]

Hi Mick and welcome to the Penwith Boards

Just quickly checked the OPC site for you and the St Buryan baptisms, marriages and burials go up to 1901.

Also may be a good idea to contact Corrine (the OPC for St Buryan) as she may have more records that are not on the main OPC site, she'll happily check them for you. She can be reached through the link on this page
www.cornwall-opc.org/Par_new/a_d/buryan_st.php

It's worth trying as we cant always get all the information we hold on our parishes uploaded for many reasons.

There are records for -
Faith Harvye marrying a John James at Sancreed on 1 October 1687

John Harvye marrying Alce (Alice?), no surname given, 28 June 1673 at St Buryan

Peter Harvy (no "e") marrying Jane Olivy 28 November 1684 at Sancreed

and of course

Abednego marrying Mary in 1670.

You may not have luck with discovering Mary's maiden name as I know from the early parish registers I have been transcribing that surnames can be missed out or the page so smudged or damaged it is impossible to read But of course, looking on the bright side, somebody may read your posting and have access to papers that have it recorded

Best regards
HeatherC



And Tony M........ you are right

From the OPC site
"Church of St. Buryan, and its daughter Churches of St. Levan and Sennen formed the Royal Deanery of St. Buryan – which was a Royal Peculiar and fell directly under the jurisdiction of the British Monarch, who claimed the right to appoint the Dean of St. Buryan, rather than under the jurisdiction of the Diocese, which meant that the Dean did not answer to the Bishop and there was no diocesan supervision.
The consequences of this for genealogists is that there are no early Parish Registers and there are no Bishop’s Transcripts of the Registers. The Royal Deanery of St. Buryan also had its own ecclesiastical courts for probate and other matters. And the consequence for the poor parishioners was that the Rectors, who were all holders of royal office, rarely, if ever, visited the Parish, leaving the daily affairs of the Parish to Prebends (who were almost never there) and to minor clerks."