James Mi(t)chell of Boscarne

[Cornish Terrier]

Noted m'dear and will get back to it ASAP.

More shelves to move and get in place so I can get my records sorted.

THEN I might have room to move in the kitchen.

Just wish the floors in this place were all level.

Will try and check in before I get to bed - after all, it is almost 6am here now.

Ian

[tonymitch]

Lesley! No wonder you have the picture of a ball of wool by your name...trying to unravel this tangled web is a bigger problem than I first thought.

I have one B-I-G problem with Ralph, Mary & Nanny et al...They owned land and a fair amount too. My James scratched out a living as an agricultural labourer at Boscarn Vean and althogh he was living there in 1841 may have been evicted from there in 1838. (I can't quite work out the reference about Boscarn Vean from the Cornwall Records Office..Type Boscarn Vean into Google and look at the result ) Mind you, there is a record of a James Mitchell in 1832 being indentured to lease a plot of land in Higher Boscarne to build a chapel. I know that James and Lavinia's grandson, (sorry, but it's another James) was a devout Bible Christian. and if we assume that the family were so inclined it seems highly likely that the 'chapel ' James was the James of James and Lavinia and even though he was a rather lowly farmer he must have had some standing in the community. (Hence the request for him to be guardian to Jonathon?)

Are the St Leven Baptisms on line? I can only find them from 1813

I have another 'Ralph' problem. The name does not appear in my family at all. Neither does Esther nor Harriet. Mind you, neither did the name 'Anthony' until my mother had a crush on Anthony Eden.

Tony M

[londoner]

west-penwith.org.uk/Levan.htm
This is such a useful site and often confirms those IGI records that you cant always trust. Unfortunately there are gaps in the St Just & St Buryan records that mean a trip to Redruth or the help of our friend Cornishmaid.
It must have been James snr (m to Margaret) who was the guardian of my Jonathan. I see what you mean about the tenancy of Boscarne Vean. But in 1803 James Mitchell,gentleman, acquired the lease to the salmon weir at Boscarne Barton(CRO online catalogue)
guess having 5 sons led to problems !

[Cornish Terrier]

Tony and Lesley - I believe the St Levan records are online but I have a copy of the Transcript here at home.

It only covers from 1700 onwards as records before that are, apparently, mostly lost.

I have similar records for Sennen if required.

I have worked through both St Levan and Sennen and have most of that information in my database.

I am guessing that the reference to 'James snr' will be the following:-

James Mitchell of St Levan m. Margaret PAUL at Sennen 8th July 1704.

I believe this James was buried at St Levan 16th April 1755.
Margaret buried at St Levan 20th August 1751.

Let me know what you require and I will try and get it for you.

Ian

[tonymitch]

What a relief. Just found a muck up in my data base. With there being so many James's about I have James 1799 dying in 1848 and his father James 1769 dying on the same date. This could have happened, but the James we should concentrate on is the James of 1769 who married Margaret Grenfell, not the James who married Lavinia Harvey. Ian, the James married 1704 would be the g-father of James 1769. Any info on that little lot would be greatly appreciated

Tony M

[Cornish Terrier]

Tony - are the following the two James you are interested in? :_

James MITCHEL s/o James & Hester bp. St Buryan 17th September 1769

James MITCHEL s/o James & Margaret bp. St Buryan 12th September 1799

I will list the IGI baptisms for children of each couple at St Buryan and then see how we are looking.

Children of James and Hester:-

James MITCHEL bp. 17th September 1769

Children of James and Margaret:-

James MITCHEL bp. 12th September 1799
Joseph MITCHEL bp. 26th July 1801 (also shown as MITCHELL)
William MITCHELL bp. 18th September 1803
Thomas MITCHEL bp. 10th May 1806
Simon MICHELL bp. 30th October 1808
Margaret Grenfell MICHELL bp. 4th August 1812

Marriages:-

James MITCHELL, y, & Hester RICHARDS 3rd June 1769

James MITCHELL & Margaret GRENFELL, lic. 23rd February 1799

If this is correct then I am to presume that this last James was the son of James and Hester.

James (m. Hester) would be the grandson of the James who married Margaret PAUL - is this correct.

Okay Tony - here is what little I have pieced together regarding the 1704 marriage of James MITCHELL to Margaret PAUL:-

James MITCHELL, of St Levan m. Margaret PAUL at Sennen 8th July 1704.

I am reasonably sure of the following:-

James buried St Levan 16th April 1755
Margaret buried St Levan 20th August 1751 as 'wife of James MITCHEL of Sennen'

Children:-

Elizabeth bp. St Levan 6th May 1705
Sarah bp. St Levan 6th April 1707
Simon bp. St Levan 10th April 1709
James bp. St Levan 26th October 1712
Andrew bp. St Levan 3rd May 1715
William bp. St Levan 19th May 1720

Simon MITCHELL, of St Levan, m. Ann PAUL at Sennen 4th January 1745

Ann PAUL was, I think, the daughter of Joseph PAUL by his second wife Margaret RAWLING.

I have a little more information but it is not much at the moment.

Look forward to you filling in a couple of gaps here so that I may be able to tie in a few other loose ends of my own.

Ian

[tonymitch]

Thanks Ian. Yes, James and Hester are as far back as I can get and James who married Margaret was certainly their son. I have no other children for James and Hester and no parents for them either. Thanks to you, it looks like we have info going back to James's (1769) grandparents. Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Tony M

[Cornish Terrier]

No problems Tony and glad to be of some help.

Unfortunately I am now a little stuck myself and am trying to think of avenues to pursue this further.

IGI is no help (just checked) although there are a couple of entries that might fall into a reasonable time period.

But we are looking at the Isles of Scilly where there were Mitchells, Ludgvan (ditto), Gwinear and Phillack (ditto) and even, possibly, Falmouth.

I think our best plan of attack for the moment would be to check through any Wills that might be available and see if we can pick up a clue (or three).

I also have found no other children for James and Hester but I did note that their son James named a son Simon which seems a little significant.

In a previous note you made mention of Ralph, Mary, Nanny et al.

Although you may have made mention in earlier notes I would appreciate some elaboration here.

I did notice a number of children in IGI bp. to Ralph Mitchell at St Buryan so if this is another link it might prove useful.

Something else of possible interest from the St Buryan Burial Transcript (online):-

James MITCHELL bur. 11th February 1795
Esther MICHELL bur. 25th April 1798

May or may not be connected - but worth mentioning anyway.

Just about time I got to bed but will do a quick scan of messages first.

Ian

[cornishmaid]

Just to let you know that the Cornwall Centre in Redruth hold the following transcriptions:

St Levan
Baptisms: 1700-1812
Marriages: 1694-1812 and 1813-1837
Burials: 1700-1812 and 1813-1837

St Buryan
Baptisms: 1653-1789
Marriages: 1654-1812 and 1813-1837
Burials: 1653-1812

Just let me know if you need any information from any of these

[tonymitch]

Where was I? Ah, yes. The Mitchell/Humphries relationship. Ian, I have a record of Mary and Nanny Humphries Mitchell whose Guardian in 1838 it seemed owned land in St Levan. This 57 acres of land was possibly farmed by Enoch Tonkin.

I also have a copy of the will made in 1833 by Ralph Mitchell who owned a cosiderable amount of land in St Buryan and Boscarne. I also have a list of land owned or leased by James Mitchell in 1844 in Boscarne. One field left by Ralph to his son John in 1833 may in 1844 be being farmed by my James. It is not clear if this is the case or not because this particular field has two names (Parc Drea or Wertha) and then again I am uncertain as to the nature of James 'ownership'

Lesley. regarding Wallis...I have a record of John 'Wallish' and James Mitchell (I think the 1769 one) being indentured to build the chapel at Crowsanwra in 1832. In the 1841 census at Boscarne there is a record of Humphrey Wallis aged 20, a farmer, living with William Mitchell aged 14 (a son of James 1799) listed as a man servant, Grace ROWE and NICKOLLS

Tony M

[londoner]

The two St Levan Mitchells: Ann1846 & William 1850 that I have been looking at were offspring of a Simon. Probably the one baptised 1709 s/o James & Margaret Paul. Margaret wife of James (of Sennen!) was buried at St Levan 1751 and James in 1756. I haven't had time to go through all the burials and match them but there are several that look promising.
As to the two burials you mention at St Buryan Ian - I have found Hester as Esther before so it is likely the same couple.
We will be visiting the aged in-laws far a few days so will catch up with you all soon. Thanks for all the input.
Lesley

[Cornish Terrier]

Hi All involved in this discussion.

Had a brief look at the latest earlier tonight but have been trying to do a few things at once.

Have installed some new software that found quite a few problems/potential problems with my PC so have been working on that as well as trying to sort shelving for my record collection (don't know if it is the floor or the damned carpet but nothing seems level :.

Also trying to find the right sequence of shelving before I start filling said shelves with records and movies 'cos I do not want to have to do it again for a long time.

Best get at least one of these shelves set up or I will do myself some damage when I get up tomorrow given all the books off that particular shelf are now on the floor just outside my bedroom door.

Just do not know how I will do it - bit I will give it one helluva go.

Will try and get back to this Mitchell thing after work tonight.

And I have to start thinking about the Quick family again given recent correspondence.

Should Trencrom log in to this note I would sure appreciate some assistance given the recent PM queries have been largely about the early Zennor and Towednack clan for which I have limited PR/BT information.

Well Team - best go and look at those shelves again and then do something about them so that I don't break my b***dy neck when I exit the bedroom tomorrow. ;D

Will do my best to check more on this Mitchell problem tonight.

Ian

[tonymitch]

Ian, sounds like you're having problems. Does it really matter if the shelves are not straight? Should see my conputer room floor too. Can't see it for papers! Enough of this...I haven't been on line for a few days. Reason being that I have been hawked out of retirement (did someone say "exhumed"?) and have been working a full day so have been too exhausted to do any research in the evening. Now getting back into the swing of things and getting my second wind so to speak.

For info...family tradition says that the original Mitchell came to Cornwall from France. I was told as a child that it was about the time of the French Revolution and they (or he) came over in an onion boat. Obviously the dates and the French Revolution bit were wrong but then again the other bits could be correct, so presumably there would be no record prior to their (or his) landing. Another example of an illegal imigrant?

Tony M

[myghaelangof]

Hi Tony,
I might be able to add some credence to the French stories. Unfortunately I cant find my notes at present, its too early in the morning, and I'm preparing Christmas Dinner for today. This is because my wife and daughter are both working Christmas Day. Still at least I can watch the Queens speech in peace.

Anyway, back to the 'French' Mitchells. I seem to remember that one of the 16th century muster rolls listed persons of Breton origin at the end of each parish, Mitchell being one of these names. Back in those days Brittany was under British control. Therefore very possible that your Mitchells came over from France at some stage.

When I find my notes, which may be after Christmas, I will confirm dates and places for you, although I probably wont have noted specific Mitchells.
Mike

[tonymitch]

Thanks Mike!

Hope that you have a restful Christmas Day and I'm pleased to see that I won't be the only one working on that day.

I didn't know that Brittany was in any way under British control at any time. I fully recognise that England was for many years under French control (Normans etc even if they were originally from Denmark and how's about the Plantagenets?)

Anyway, back to "ze French Connection". My uncle Billy, who would have been 111 had he lived, was so convinced about the French ancestry, he maintained that when in France during WW1 he had a feeling that he had been there before, (Obviously never heard of deja-vu). "Mitchell" is of course a patronimic based upon your name Michael.

Look forward to hearing what you have.

Merry Christmas

Tony M