Gwennap

Background photo Gwennap Granite

WELCOME

General Information Page

This site is for everyone to enjoy as well as helping genealogists, local historians and others who carry out research. Originally our aim was to provide information  on both Gwennap and Redruth, the two adjoining parishes in Cornwall, United Kingdom. However, the sheer size of both parishes in the mining boom as the population expanded  and the subsequent growth in records, was too much to accomplish satisfactorily. Redruth was therefore transferred into another's keeping.  Whatever the records I had on Redruth are still available to view on this site and researchers can still follow the trail of those families who moved into Redruth area from Gwennap with the census returns. Travels further afield may also be required! This is an excerpt from the introduction  to his transcripts of Gwennap Parish Registers by W.L. Bawden:

 “Some foreign births are entered in the baptisms to ensure that a record existed in this country, such as on page 119.  The entry is: 21st Dec 1852, baptism     Phillipa Roberts, daughter of John & Grace ; miner; Carharrack; she was 11 years old last birth-day and born in Brazil" Miners would take mining jobs abroad, taking their wives and children with them. Quite often children would be born to them in those foreign countries. In time the family would return to Gwennap. On a permanent basis there was more emigration to foreign countries from Gwennap than from any other Cornish parish. I have carried out a cursory check to ascertain some of the most ancient families; of Gwennap from the 1522 Military Survey. The following surnames are listed for Gwennap: Penhalurick, Magor, Jose, Bawden, Treweek, Jeffery, Williams, Skewes, Thomas, Richards, Nicholls, Harris, Jenkin, Skinner, Hitchins, Angove and Michell. Descendants of these same families still reside in the parish of Gwennap. A period of over 450 years. --W.L. Bawden"

Sandra descends from the Vingoe family of the Lands End, and has traced her roots back to the earliest written records of the 16th Century, when a Nicholl Vyngow is shown on the Muster Roll of 1569 as living in Sennen Parish.  Because  of  the family connections to that area we also have a Sennen OPC site at  http://sennenopc.vingoe.name/ Over the twenty five years that we have been tracing the various family lines we have collected a great deal of  historical information on Cornwall and its people. In January of 2001 a group of  like-minded Cornish researchers came together to form  what is now known as the Online Parish Clerks (OPC). We are volunteers who  each collect, collate and transcribe records for their chosen specific parish in Cornwall.

The Cornwall Record Office and various Cornish parishes agreed some years ago to the recording on microfiche of their parish registers by the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Some of these have been transcribed and placed on the LDS website (Click here). However, only Gwennap  baptisms for the years 1674-1772  appear there. Thus the records of  the ancestors of Gwennap descendants was lost in a black hole. We have initially  transcribed  the records for  the years 1773 onwards. This includes baptisms, marriages and burials. We are grateful for the help we have received from Sandra Love, Althea Barker, Coral Jennings and Helen Webster. Also to the many others who came across information on Gwennap people in other parishes, census areas and countries and reported them as "strays". As can be seen from the various records, Gwennap people tended to "STRAY" very far from home!

We upgrade occasionally so please come back from time to time and always refresh the page if it was bookmarked in your 'favourites'.

It was always our intention to transcribe and place on this site all the records we find for the parish, so that you may browse and discover your ancestors and family history for yourself. The data originates from as many sources as can be accessed, including census returns, parish registers, cemetery records and parish histories. However, it takes time to discover, transcribe and accumulate material so not all the records will be on our site. If you think any family  member you are researching came from Gwennap parish, or resided there for a while and you need some help in where to look next, please get in touch.

If you are searching for Gwennap residents and they appear to have 'vanished'  then follow the link at the bottom of this page to the main Cornwall OPC site. They have a searchable database of baptisms. marriages etc of many Cornish parishes which may show they simply moved within Cornwall to find work. However, if they moved further afield the search will be considerably more difficult. You can find other websites with a Gwennap or Redruth interest on their respective 'links' pages. In order to make more room for records on this site we have made links to a number of other sites such as the 1841-1891 Census. Will you therefore use your back buttons to return to this site after visiting them.

Finally, although every care is taken when transcribing the records we are all too human and make errors. Please check with the original documents wherever possible for confirmation.

Scroll down and click on title in a box to be taken to the records.

Good luck with your research!

Sandra  & George Pritchard

Contact email: sandrapenhalvean <at> gmail.com

Please replace  <at>  with  @  in the address as this is only a security precaution to stop bots.

c Baptisms	Marriages	Burials
Census	War Memorials	Directories
Maps	Wills, Admonitions for Gwennap 1660 - 1729	What is a Parish?
Chapels	The Old Parish of Gwennap	Parish Church & Clergy
Links	Gwennap Family Web Sites	Gwennap Links
Stonemen	Mining in Gwennap	Newspapers
	Protestation Returns – Gwennap 1642
Adjoining Parishes  It was originally bounded on the north by St Agnes, and a detached part of Kenwyn and Kea, on the east by Perranarworthal, on the south by Stithians, and on the west by Wendron and Redruth. In 1833 St Day became a Parish in its own right and the records from this date onwards became separate from Gwennap. The Online Parish Clerk for St Day is Fran Pillsbury, who may be reached via Email. Kenwyn records on-line through the OPC search Facility Redruth Records Click Here Perranarworthal for information on records please see The Genuki Page Stithians Records Click Here St Agnes for information on records please see The Genuki Page For St Kea records click here Wendron for information on records please see The Genuki Page
Cornwall on-line    Census	Cornwall On-Line Parish Clerks	Genuki Gwennap

DISCLAIMER: We are a voluntary group and are not affiliated in any way, with either the Civil Parish Council or  the Gwennap Church Council. 

If you are wishing to contact the Parish Church then these are the details:

Where: St Wenappa, Gwennap
Postcode: TR16 6BD
Telephone: +44 (0)1209 860123
Fax: +44 (0)1209 860196
Email: wennap@stythian.co.uk

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Name: Mr. A Hitchens
Position: Church Warden
Address: Tower Cottage, Gwennap, REDRUTH, TR16 6BD
Telephone: +44 (0)1209) 820476

DESCRIPTION:
Services:
Sunday 11.00am - on 1st, 3rd & 5th Holy Communion, 2nd Family Service,
4th Matins.

If you are looking for Gwennap Civil Parish Council or the Parish Clerk for Gwennap and not the Online Parish Clerk (me) please use the following link:

http://www.gwennap-parish.net/

The authors of original work on this site give permission to copy and use this information on the following conditions.

 1 It will not be used for profit.

 2. The source will be credited.

Copyright © 2005 / 06 / 07 .  All rights reserved.
Revised: March 04, 2011.