The Cornish Crier, Volume 12, Number 4 Page 38
Cornish Heritage Society East Newsletter December 2006

There is good news from Cornwall! After many
years, the mining heritage and landscape of West Devon
and Cornwall have been recognized as being unrivalled
in international importance by the World Heritage
Committee of the United Nations (Unesco). In
addition to the mining activities of the areas, they
have also recognized the importance of their
unique contributions to world wide technology
and engineering practices that contributed to the
Industrial Revolution.
The title World Heritage Site is shared by
eight hundred thirty sites throughout the
world. Cornwall and Devon have been
rated along side such important sites as the
pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal, and the Great Wall of
China!
To become a World Heritage site requires the
collection of extensive criteria about the area and
submitting it to UNESCO. The committee has been
working for many years towards this goal.
Ann Trezona Dalrymple
Twenty-five members attended our
September meeting.
It wasn’t a happy occasion as we
were viewing the video, The Man
Who Predicted 9/11. But, we were
so very proud of our former member
and Cornishman, Rick Riscorla who
saved so many lives at that terrible
tragedy.
For centuries, the mines in Cornwall and Devon
contributed significantly throughout the world to the
production of tin and copper. The World Heritage Site
status will protect the mining areas and may create new
jobs, attract tourism and encourage reclamation of
mining sites.
The influence of Cornish mining has
traveled worldwide as miners took their skills in
mining to many countries. It is estimated that
six million people worldwide are descended
from those Cornish miners according to the
web site “This is Cornwall” and with their
movement all over the world went their
cultural traditions and mining skills.
I am sure this is a proud time for those who live
in Cornwall as well as those descendants of Cornish
miners who live all over the world. To have achieved the
status of World Heritage Site along side the Taj Mahal is
a marvelous thing. We are all proud of our beloved
Cornwall.
Our Cornish Heritage
Oh well I tell ‘ee boy Cornwall’s in some state
Well ‘ee d’ent part a England at any rate
We’re more akin to Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales
We got history on our side to balance up the scales
We don’t mind being called a Duchy
but a Kingdom’s what we are
And it’s been stated many times by lawyers at the bar
“ a palatine state extraterritorial to the English crown”
(George Harrison eighteen fifty eight), now!
Who could put that down?
Do you know in nine thirty eight
when Athelstan was king
He was a proper man and yo,
he did a proper thing
He made a boundary of the Tamar
and all west belong to we
So we’re Cornish and we’re Celtic
not English don’t ‘ee see?
We got nothen agin England,
as neighbours they’re alright
We just want our country,
as sure as is our right
It id’nt that we’re better it id’nt
that we’re worse
It’s just the fact we’re Cornish and
we were down here first.
© Harry (Safari) Glasson
harrysafari.com
harrysafari@aol.com
MARY TOYE CELEBRATES A CENTURY !
Mary Toye, currently residing in Hackettstown, NJ
recently celebrated her 100th birthday with several friends and
many former students. Mary is a longtime member of our
Cornish society, and proud of her Cornish heritage. She was born
on October 12, 1906 in Dover, NJ and graduated from the class
of 1925 of Dover High School.
After graduating high school she attended the College of
St. Elizabeth in Morristown, receiving a degree in French in
1929. She taught for a year in Patterson, then returned to Dover
and took a position at the Academy Street School. In 1936 she
commenced her career as a French teacher at Dover High School.
Mary taught French there until 1963, when she became a
guidance counselor for 12 more years, finally retiring in 1975.
I fondly remember Mary's participation at our Cornish
society meetings over the years, and am especially grateful to her
for giving me rides back to the bus station in Dover so I could
return to New York City. Mary and several members stated that
offering a ride was "nothing," but it is the little things in life that
mean so much.
I'm sure that Mary has been
often asked how does one attain such
longevity. Though I have not asked
her myself, if a constant smile on her
face and a truly positive and cheery
attitude hasn't helped, then I hope she
will please give us her sage advice.
Here’s a picture from one of our
meetings, with Barry as the teacher
and Mary, the quintessential
teacher as the student.
Mary, please accept the heartfelt
congratulations from your Cornish Cousins in
New Jersey. - Ed.
GREAT NEWS FROM CORNISH WORLD!
Regular readers of Cornish World will notice a lot of changes with this latest issue. The magazine is now bi-monthly,
moving away from more than ten years of being a quarterly. Think of this: Six issues a year!
Nigel Pengelly, the editor states, “However, as I have always said, Cornish World is a magazine for people with
Cornish interests and in essence belongs to those people.” Through the generosity of Nigel Pengelly, we have brought to you
a few excerpts of his articles, such as Balmaidens and China Clay and William Cookworthy.
You can subscribe on-line or on a form you can download from the web site at:www.cornishworldmagazine.co.uk.
or
email: editor@cornish-world.fsnet.co.uk write to: Cornish World Media,
PO Box 71, Penzance TR18 2ZR, UK
Volume 12, Number 4 Page 40
Cornish Heritage Society East Newsletter December 2006
West Briton newspaper transcripts at:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wbritonad/cornwall/intro.html
Transcribed by:
Rita Bone Kopp, OPC for St Stephen In Brannel and Julia Symons Mosman,
OPC for St Austell along with Isabel Harris, William Kemp and LaVelda Faull
West Briton,
Monday, 12 September 1887
Electric Lights - I am informed that the electric light, so
far as it has been tried at St. Austell, has been found to be a
success, and that its use is likely to spread. The gas supplied
in the town is poor, and, as the cost of the electric light is
smaller, and the new illuminant is of much greater power than
the old, it will be a wonder indeed if its use does not
spread........
Mushrooms - The recent copious showers have been the
means of raising an enormous quantity of mushrooms in the
neighbourhood of Truro, and several persons have eked out a
livelyhood during the past fortnight by vending them in the
city. The earlier crops found a ready sale in Truro at 4d. a lb.,.
But as they became more plentiful they decreased in value,
and even at the reduced rates could not, in many cases, be
disposed of. Large consignments have been dispatched by rail
to London and elsewhere, and as the result of a day's picking
a man might have been seen wending his way to the station
on Thursday evening with a donkey-cart heavily laden.
Social Purity In Truro - At a meeting of the subcommittee
of the Truro Association for the Promotion of
Social Purity, on the 2nd instant, Mr. J.H. Bawden in the
chair, it was proposed by Canon Donaldson, and seconded by
the Rev. J. Rhodes, that a letter be written to the Mayor
requesting him to bring before the proper authorities the
posting of certain medical (so-called) and other advertisements
of an unseemly character in and near the city. A report of the
Ladies' Committee and their temporary home was read, by
which it appeared that in the course of 15 months 12 girls had
passed through the home, and had been in every case but one
rescued from evil or dangerous courses. The accounts of the
home showed very careful expenditure and a favourable
balance.
A Shock - Those who were at the Truro railway station on
the arrival of the five o'clock train from Falmouth on Friday
afternoon, were startled by a loud explosion which occurred
just as the train was pulling up at the platform. The men
engaged in cleaning the roof of the building looked
particularly frightened, and among those those awaiting the
arrival of the down train there was a general sensation. It
transpired that a large detonator had been placed on the train,
but the station-master failed to ascertain by whom it was
done.
Tregony Petty Sessions - These sessions were held on
Monday, before the Hon. and Rev. J.T. Boscawen and Mr.
T.H. Vivian. Nicholas Coombe of Tregony, a butcher and
grocer, pleaded guilty to being drunk at Tregony on the 11th
of August whilst in charge of a horse and trap, and was fined
one shilling and costs. - Sarah Evans pleaded guilty to being
drunk at Cornelly on the night of the 26th of August, and was
fined one shilling and costs. This being the annual licencing
meeting, Supt. Opie informed the magistrates that one
innkeeper had been convicted during the past year for selling
liquor to a person when drunk. The innkeeper was present and
received a mild caution from the chairman. The whole of the
licences in the division were renewed.
Re: John Langdon - In the case of John Langdon, of
Truro, who, at the Exeter Assizes in May last, pleaded guilty
to an offence under the Bankruptcy Act, it will be remembered
that sentence was deferred, preceding the fulfilment of a
promise made by Langdon to obtain for the benefit of his
creditors a sum of £150, which he had forwarded to his
brother in New Zealand. He was liberated to come up for
judgment when called upon, but it was generally understood
that, provided the amount in question were forthcoming, he
would receive no further punishment in that which he had
already undergone. The Official Receiver in Bankruptcy (Mr.
G. Appleby Jenkins) received from Langdon's brother last
week the sum of (?),with the intimation that the balance of
£30 had been invested, and therefore was not available for
return at the time of his writing.
The Drink Again! - James Keogh was charged with being
drunk whilst in charge of a horse and trap, with driving
furiously, and with assaulting P.C. Grigg in the execution of
his duty, on Saturday last. He pleaded guilty, and said he
should not have acted in the manner described by the
constable, but for the fact that he had been drinking. - The
Chairman said the charges of furious driving and assaulting
the police were serious ones, for which drunkenness was no
excuse. He rather feared from the charges which came before
the Bench that drunkenness was increasing in the city.
Defendant was fined £1 1s. and costs, 6s; or, in default, 14
days' hard labour. - Wm. Murton, for being drunk and
disorderly on the 6th inst., was fined 2s. 6d. and costs.
continued on page 41
Volume 12, Number 4 Page 41
Cornish Heritage Society East Newsletter December 2006
Cornish American Heritage Society
14TH GATHERING
Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan
“far from ’ome”
July 25-29, 2007
Fatal Burning Accident At Penzance - A
serious accident befell Mr. Rosewarne residing in St.
James Street, Penzance, on Wednesday night. About
midnight on Wednesday Miss Rosewarne was alarmed by
cries proceeding from her father's bedroom, and on going
there she found him out of bed, with his shirt in flames.
The carpet and floor were also burning, but an alarm soon
attracted several neighbours to the spot, and the flames
were speedily extinguished. Mr. Hosking, surgeon, who
was called in, found that Mr. Rosewarne's right leg, right
side, and face were dreadfully burnt, and the hair was
singed off his head. The sufferer, who is paralysed, now
lies in the most precarious condition. It is supposed that
Mr. Rosewarne, who is 72 years of age, got out of bed,
and in lighting a match ignited his nightshirt. The
accident terminated fatally on Friday afternoon.
Information For Creditors - Charles Phillips,
butcher, Illogan, first and final dividend 2s. 9d. In the £
payable October 1st, Official Receiver's, Truro. -
Partnership dissolved, Hart Nichell Truscott and Richard
Truscott, trading as Hart and Richard Truscott, at
Wadebridge, grocers, drapers, and coal merchants.
The Mushroom Crop - Owing to the heat of the
summer and the showers of the last fortnight mushrooms
abound, and from many parts of Cornwall tons have been
sent away to the London and midland markets at prices
ranging from 1d. to 2d. per lb. The fungi harvest is
causing not a little trouble to the owners of old grass-lands
on which they grow. Their fields have been invaded in the
early hours of the morning, and huge baskets of
mushrooms have been carried off to sell, not for the
benefit of the owner or occupier of the soil, but of the
gatherer. The encounter which took place at Bockliffe
Marsh is an example of the kind of trouble which is
arising in many parts of the country, and the difficulty of
the farmers is increased by the knowledge of the fact that
the law affords them no summary remedy. They may
proceed against the trespassers for trespass, but in that case
actual damage must be proved. According to the law, as it
now stands, it is no offence to take mushrooms,
primroses, or wild plants of any kind, or to trespass in
order to find them. "Trespassers will be prosecuted with
the utmost rigour of the law" is an empty threat.
A Valuable Horse - At the Bath Horse Show held last week
the first prize of £50 for jumping was awarded to Actress, the
property of Mr. W. Craze, of Kenegie, Penzance. The competition
was open to all England, and Actress had to contend with no less
than 57 rivals. She was ridden by her owner, and had previously
won five first prizes and one second for jumping since she had
been in Mr. Craze's possession.
Two Sad Cases At Penzance - At the Penzance Policecourt,
on Wednesday, before Messrs. Wellington Dale (the
Mayor) and F. Boase J.P., at the borough police-court, Ellen
Williams Cock, a girl of twelve, was charged with the theft of
two gold rings, worth £3, the property of Mr. Samuel Plomer, of
39, Bay View-terrace, Penzance. - Mrs. Plomer was washing
some clothes and slipped her rings off. On answering a knock at
the front door she found Cock was there offering black-berries for
sale. She at once missed her rings, and taxed the girl, who denied
any knowledge of them. A policeman being sent for, she
produced them, saying that her stepmother had told her, "If you
see anything you walk it off; if you don't I will welt you till the
blood comes out of your back." - Supt. Nichells proved that the
girl said to him that her stepmother had told her to bring home
what she saw; and that if she did not bring something she would
beat her black and blue. There had been several complaints made
of this girl, who had been wandering around the quays, stealing
coats, begging, &c. Her father, John James Cock (formerly of St.
Just, now a driver for Mr. John Friggens), was living with
another woman, and his wife, the girl's mother, was living with
another man. - On a promise from Cock to send the girl to his
sister's, the offender was fined only 10s. - Annie Maud Carne was
sent to gaol for one month's hard labour under the following
circumstances. She is 16, has been on the streets, and is
suspected of various offences. Calling on Mr. John Parker, boot
and shoe dealer, Market Jew-street, she said that Mrs. Eliza
Tregarthen, of Penrose-terrace, had sent her for three pairs of laced
boots on approval. She obtained them, pawned two pairs for 2s.
and 2s. 6d. with separate pawnbrokers, and kept the other pair.
West Briton,
Monday, 19 September 1887
Accident at Carn Brea - Thomas Symons, of Illogan,
accidentally fell from the man-engine underground in Carn Brea
mine on Thursday, a distance of 16 fms., and had his thigh
fractured. He was removed to the Miners' Hospital at Redruth
and attended by Dr. Fabor.
Volume 12, Number 4 Page 42
Cornish Heritage Society East Newsletter December 2006
The last Cornish mine, South Crofty in Redruth,
closed in 1998 but during the 18th and 19th century the
region was the world’s greatest producer of tin and
copper. Women, of course, played an important part in
Cornish mining history.
Lynne Mayers’ research into her family’s mining
tradition led her to write
Balmaidens. “They’re
called balmaidens
because the word “bal” is
a very old Cornish word
for a mine and it was
replaced by the name
“wheal” which people
might be more familiar
with. The name
balmaiden has remained
with them and just
means a woman or girl
who works at the mine,”
said Lynne.
The balmaidens
were a vital part of the
work force. The main
mining parishes needed
300 to 1,000 ore dressers
and there simply weren’t
enough men and boys
available to work with
the copper, tin and lead.
Copper ore required the most work. At the mouth of
the mine in all weathers the balmaidens would stand on
cobbled ‘dressing floors’ and smash large lumps of rock
(spalling) with sledgehammers. Other balmaidens sat down
surrounded by piles of wet ore to do the ‘cobbing.’ They
chipped off the valuable bits of ore using small short handled
hammers. The last stage of reducing the ore was ‘bucking,’
the most skilled and highest paid job. Perhaps the
balmaidens aspired to work in the ‘bucking shed’ not only
for the money but because it was under cover. Up to 60
women stood in a line banging at the ore on anvils, known
as buck stones, with flat handled hammers.
“It was quite a sight to behold, all these balmaidens
singing in unison and smashing away on the anvils to reduce
the ore to walnut size pieces,” imagines Dr Sharron
Schwartz, Honorary University Fellow at the University of
Exeter. “The bucking shed at Dolcoath was known as the
‘roarer’ because of the noise that went on inside there.”
Reprinted in part from the CORNISH WORLD, Issue 47, August/September 2006
The Balmaidens
Cornish Women and their Mining History
60,000 women and girls are estimated to have worked “above grass,” at the surface
of the mines in the 200 year period 1720-1920. Lucy Frears went in search of
Cornwall’s balmaidens.
The balmaidens are still remembered by their costume
now copied by schoolgirls at Cornish Festivals. Posed
photographs from the period show smartly dressed women in
various styles of hats known as ‘gooks’ to protect them from
rain or sun as well as scrubbed white aprons. Quite a clean
feminine image when one considers that they broke up to 5 tons
of rock on exposed
hillsides in all weathers!
The reality must have
been sweaty clothes
stained orangey-red by
the copper-coloured
soil. The white apron
was a ‘walking out’
apron to be worn to and
from work, although
that was often a long
way across the fields.
Once at the mine they
put on ‘tousers,’ rough
Hessian aprons.
“Balmaidens must
have looked absolutely
splendid,” enthuses
Lynne Mayers. “They
were very proud of their
appearance and going to
work they would wear
their long skirts. They
wouldn’t be as long as
contemporary skirts otherwise they’d be dragging in the mud
and dirt of the mine so their skirts would be above the ankle. In
order not to disgrace themselves they would cover their ankles
with woollen or cotton bandages depending on the season.” A
visitor to a Camborne mine in the 1890s noted that some
balmaidens were wearing their colourful but old ‘Sunday best’
dresses under their ‘tousers’ or aprons. This extraordinary effort
to stay looking smart and feminine has been translated by some
as a way to hide the shame of doing such rough, unwomanly
work.
Justin Brooke, who sadly died last November,
interviewed the last balmaiden in the 1960s. Minnie Andrews
was then in her 90s. Minnie had enjoyed the work, he told me,
but one of her friends had gone to great lengths to disguise
where she worked by pinning her handkerchief around her head
to hide and protect her face and wrapped rags around her hands
so that they wouldn’t get hurt and sunburnt.
continued on page 43
Volume 12, Number 4 Page 43
Cornish Heritage Society East Newsletter December 2006
Cornish balmaidens made shrewd economic decisions
- they could earn their own money rather than rely on their
parents and taste independence before marriage.
Working in close proximity to men and their
independence earned the balmaidens a bad reputation. Many
older locals speak of being told not to go near balmaidens by
their parents. As 19th century stories and documentation show
balmaidens as having a good reputation for being honest,
respectable and hard working Lynne Mayers is quick to spring
to their defence.
“Certainly towards
the end of the 19th
century it seems that
the general
conception was that
these women came
from the very lowest
strata of society and
weren’t necessarily
so nice to know.
There was this
saying that the
language the
balmaidens used
was as black as their
aprons were white,
but there is no real
evidence of that,”
she adds. Some of
the women could
certainly stand up
for themselves in
such a male
e n v i r o n m e n t .
Mayers has
unearthed stories
such as the
balmaiden that threw her surface captain, her boss, into a big
tub of water.
Dr Schwartz feels that their reputation came from
society’s disapproval of their independence and new spending
power. She said: “Men didn’t like women having too much
independence. They were free to mingle at the surface of the
mines with members of the opposite sex, which was a lot
easier to do than at chapel where they might have been
allowed to walk out afterwards. The mixing of the sexes at the
surface of the mines meant that women were losing their
deference to men. These women earned their own income, they
paid some to the family pot, which helped keep the family
above subsistence level, but some of that money was theirs to
keep and that was part of the problem. Men didn’t like women
being able to spend money on nice clothing, bonnets and
trinkets.”
Some of the young women organised clubs such as a
group in the Camborne area. They all paid in an amount of
money per month and would then draw lots to see who would
win the silk dress or a brand new hat! These Cornish working
class women went to great lengths to buy themselves the best
dresses and accessories so they could dress like ladies when they
went to church on Sundays. Many balmaidens were Methodists
and Mayers’ research
suggests that they
sang hymns at work
and even attended
prayer meetings and
Bible studies at some
mines.
Local historian
and writer Cyril Noel
found these writings
by an observer in the
late 18th century:
“Personally I know
many cases of mine
girls who have
illegitimate children,
and except that they
lack husbands, they
live irreproachable
lives.”
Of course at this
time it was
unacceptable to be a
single parent, but
why some were
single parents is
difficult to
determine. Had their
husbands died in mining accidents? Were they fast and loose as
has been suggested? Mayers has read the miserable first-hand
account of a balmaiden who had three illegitimate children while
working at the mines during the 1820s and 30s. ‘She writes
passionately about the mines being an evil place and the source of
all these tragic events that led her to be suicidal, very ill and
ending up in Bodmin jail because she refused to divulge the
name of the father of one of these children.’
Balmaidens broke ore for 8-10 hours a day, 5 and a half
days a week, with perhaps only 3-4 days holiday a year. It’s no
wonder that Henwood, a journalist, called them Amazons when
he saw them working in the 1900s. Some weren’t as healthy as
arthritis, rheumatism, bronchitis, colds and TB were rife. Mayers
lists other common ailments.
A TIN MINE CORNWALL
BUCKING TOOL SPALLING TOOLS
continued on page 44
Volume 12, Number 4 Page 44
Cornish Heritage Society East Newsletter December 2006
Walking around Geevor Tin Mine, ex-miner Ian
Davey showed me the calciner where balmaidens removed
arsenic by roasting it off.
“A lot of them I suppose
did die young but a lot of
the deaths years ago was put
down as consumption
because of people’s inability
to work out exactly what
the proper cause of death
was. I suppose a lot of
people were put into the
ground through arsenic
poisoning,” he said.
It wasn’t only
arsenic, their full long
dresses, dictated by the need
for decency, were not only
impractical but also
dangerous. “It was the
women and girls who had
the serious accidents with
machinery because they
were quite often drawn in
by their clothes. There was
a 16-year-old who was
crushed to death in the
Gwennap mines and there
was a nine year old
seriously injured in the St
Just area,” adds Mayers.
Women never
worked as miners
underground in Cornwall
and we’ll never really know
why. There’s a deep-rooted
superstition about it,
perhaps concocted to keep women away from the best-paid
work, or perhaps to protect them from the worst accidents. We
can only estimate how many worked ‘above grass’ as mining
records from this period are scant.
Dr Sharron Schwartz has looked into why women in
particular were phased out from working on the mines.
“A former writer
on this subject suggested
that it was due to
mechanisation and the
decline of the Cornish
mining industry which
crashed after 1866, but I
think this is only part of
the issue, I think we also
have to look at the cultural
shift in British society in
general. They really did
want their women to be
angels in the home and a
male bread earner wage to
look after the family,” she
said.
The story of the
balmaiden is part of the
extraordinary history of
Cornwall when it was a
successful mining
community that exported
its skills all around the
world. Justin Brooke was
struck by Minnie Andrews’
fond memories of her time
at the mine.
“She was about
13, she said, when she went
onto the surface of a mine
to work and stayed there as
long as her 3 sisters were
there and her father was
unable to work. She said
she enjoyed it greatly – all
that fresh air! She only had one apron. She used to wash it at
the weekend and said ‘ It used to come up lovely!’ ”
Do you have a balmaiden among your Cornish ancestors?
Look up your mining families on the Cornwall census—but don’t look under occupation for balmaiden. Look for ‘mine girl’ or
‘works at mine.’ Ann Dalrymple and Anne Stephens both have balmaidens in their families.
Anne Stephens
In the 1851 Census for Redruth, my RIDDLE family have 3 daughters recorded as “works at mine,” including my great
grandmother Caroline RIDDLE. In the 1861 census, her younger sister, Grace had joined her older sisters at the mine.
I also have a balmaiden in my RODDA family. In the 1851 census for Camborne, my great grandfather Edward RODDA’s
sister, Elizabeth, was listed as a ‘mine girl.’
Walking home after work
Balmaidens by Lynne Mayers, is available from bookshops or by mail order price £20 +
£2.50 p&p from: Hypatia Publications, Trevelyan House, 16 Chapel Street, Penzance TR18
4AW. Lynne Mayers is building a database of balmaidens names so please get in touch if a
relative was a balmaiden.
Volume 12, Number 3 Page 45
Cornish Heritage Society East Newsletter September 2006
By Fred Varker, Sept. 21, 2006 (Great
Grandson of Samuel Varker). Contributions by Kristi
Raymond and corroboration of certain events provided
by Fred's brother, Kenneth. Update: As of October 12,
2006, the chest is at Fred's home in Rockaway, NJ
This chest has a long, remarkable history. It was
used by Fred Varker’s great grandfather, Samuel Varker when
he emigrated from England to the USA in 1887. It is at
least 120 years of age, has had about 10 owners, survived
two hurricanes, a few flea markets, been used as a coffee
table, plant stand, storage chest for costumes, been tossed
around on military transport rigs, visited many sates in the
southeastern USA, and has spent many lonely years in hot,
stuffy attics. Now, in 2006, it is almost back to its original
starting place in the USA - Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
Engraved on the lid are these words—MR
SAMUEL VARKER, WANAMIE, LUZERNE CO. PA
NORTH AMERICA. It entered the USA at New York City
on May 15, 1887, containing the possessions of Samuel, and
his son Philip, Fred's grandfather. Samuel's wife, Sarah
Basher Varker, and four more children joined Samuel and
Philip in May 1888. They all settled in either Wanamie,
Alden, or Sheatown, all nearby small coal mining
communities. Samuel died in 1893, whereupon the chest
came into the possession of Samuel’s wife, Sarah, who died
in Alden in 1913. For the next 60 years or so, it was in the
possession of Philip Varker living in Sheatown, and Philip’s
oldest son, Samuel James, who lived in Kingston, PA,
about ten miles from Wanamie. It survived Hurricane Agnes
which inundated Kingston in June 1972. It was safely stored
the third floor of the Kingston home. About 1975, Ruth Varker,
Samuel James’ wife sold the Kingston home and the chest became
the possession of Jean Sutherland, Ruth’s sister. Jean and
husband, Charles, lived in North Carolina in the vicinity
Durham.
The next we know of its history is that it was purchased
at a benefit auction in Durham, NC about 1980 by Tom
Suzanne Stephenson, who subsequently passed it to their
daughter, Kristi, about 1995. Kristi married a military man,
Raymond, in 2000. This circumstance really opened up a colorful
life for the chest—visiting many states in the south, very narrowly
escaped being washed into the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricane
Katrina in August 2005, tossed about on military transport rigs
and its more sedate life as coffee table, plant stand and costume
storage for two children.
In September 2006, Kristi posted a message on
genealogical bulletin board in search of any Varker with a family
connection to Samuel Varker of Wanamie, PA. Through a cousin
of Fred’s in Virginia, Shirley Gragg, Fred learned of the posting
and responded to it. Kristi agreed to pass the chest to Fred,
Shirley picked it up for Fred in Fredericksburg, Virginia
September 20, 2003. It shall soon arrive in Rockaway, NJ.
shall then be within 115 miles of its original starting place in
USA: Wanamie, PA.
It is the conviction of Fred Varker, the author, that God
has protected this chest through its long, colorful history, and
shall protect it and keep it safe long after our present generation
have joined our ancestors. Let's keep Samuel's memory alive.
With God's help we can do it.
Volume 12, Number 4 Page 46
Cornish Heritage Society East Newsletter December 2006
Connecting Cornish
Cousins Program
—please correct street address—
Sharon Hawkinson
1700 Voerman Rd
Whitefish, Montana
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FOR CHSE
Name:________________________________ Phone: _____________________________
Street: _______________________________ E-mail: _____________________________
Town: _________________________________State:_____________Zip: _____________
Cornish ancestors: Names and parishes, if known:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Send to: Anne Stephens, CHSE, 23 Weldon Road, Lake Hopatcong, NJ 07849
NEW MEMBER
We welcome one newmember this quarter.
Marilyn Mulliner
730 W. Stonebridge Dr. #63
St. George UT
84770
Amendment to CHSE By Laws
At our September 9th meeting, the membership in
attendance voted to present a change of by laws to the total
membership. Our present by law in Article V-Board of Directors
states in the last sentence that “Each officer may serve only
two consecutive terms in the same office”.
Instead we are presenting for change to Article V the
following: Officers may serve more than two consecutive terms
if necessary.
This change will enable the group more flexibility in the
election of officers. The vote on this issue will take place at the
March meeting prior to the election of officers.
CONGRATULATIONS ANNE AND LES!
Our most sincere congratulations go to members
Anne and Les Stephens. They recently celebrated their
50th Wedding Anniversary. They were married on
August 17, 1956 in St. John’s Methodist Church in
Wharton followed by a reception held at the home o Anne’s parents.