Cornish Antecedents

April 8, 2002. While in England during 2001 I took time off tourist activity to conduct a little Gribble research in the Kensington library. The modest effort was well rewarded. Some highlights appear below.

A great find was a copy of 'The Cornwall Protestation Returns 1641' by T L Stoate 1974 from a transcript by R M Glencress revised and added to by H L Douch. For researchers interested in their Cornish origins this publication is invaluable. It is like a mini version of the Doomsday Book except rather than cataloguing property and assets it catalogues adult male parish residents. Sometimes Catholics as well as Protestants. This book explains the parliamentary origin of the returns which are based on English historical precedent. Unaware as I was of their background this was interesting.

But you're probably wondering what exactly do the Cornish returns tell us about Gribble antecedents? Something quite profound. For the whole of Cornwall there was only one Cornish hundred in which Gribbles (actually William and Thomas Grebbell to be precise) were recorded. This was the parish of Sancreed. At the time of our visit to Cornwall in 2001 a remote, quiet little place in a gully between Pensance and Landsend. A long way south east of the mining district of Illogan!

However, NO Gribbles (or other like variant) listed for Illogan, Redruth, Camborne or anywhere else in Cornwall! It would seem therefore the Illogan and associated mining district Gribbles were the result of some influx of mine workers after the year 1641.

In my research I have come across a number of references to skilled workers brought into or entering into the mining industry around Illogan in the 16th and 17th Century. At this time the primary objective of winning copper ore was coming to the fore. Apparently the skill difference between largely surface based 'tinning' (Cornwalls historical tin mining practice) and underground copper mining was sufficient to preclude a simple transition from one to the other. Introduced workers include:

• Miners brought in from Holland by Mr Weston to advance the business and raise the skills of the Cornish miner.

• Skilled miners from Germany of whom Ulrich Frosse (mine manager at the mines near Perran Sands and in Illogan Parish) and Daniel Hochstetter (a wealthy capitalist with extensive mining interests in the Tyrol), Burchard (who also worked the Perran mine), and the mining engineer Hans Hering were notable. In fact Hochstetter brought over in 1566 some 200 German miners to work in his Cumberland mines. The subsequent absorption of these largely single men into the Welsh population via marriage has been well documented.

With the growth of the Cornish copper mining industry it is not hard to imagine a labour shortage developing. Although many Cornish were engaged in the fishing industry it appears there was not much cross over with the mining industry from this sector. One author writes that the lack of interaction between the two was so great that social contact could lead to life threatening conflict for the participants.

Other documents sighted mention that the Basset family (which rose to dominate the mining industry around Illogan) was anxious for financial reasons to ensure it's land tenant miners were hardworking and little likely cause trouble. Further that with the Basset origins on Devon land it is possible they encouraged farm workers from that area to move to Cornwall and it's mining industry. If this is so then it might explain the appearance of Gribbles in Illogan.

What About Devon?
Other Possibilities
What Now?