Devon and Cornwall: into the depths of the Williams/Mills past

By Nanette (Mills) Bragg

By the rosy cliffs of Devon, on a green hill's crest,
I would build me a house as a swallow builds its nest;
I would curtain it with roses, and the wind should breathe to me
The sweetness of the roses and the saltness of the sea.


These words by Amelia Josephine Burr more than sum up the beautiful region of England from which several of our antecedents departed. During my sojourn there in July this year I was daily left asking “Why?” Why would anyone leave this beauty and why is there so little trace of a family that at the least seemed successful?

I had planned to travel to England to do some professional development for a course I teach; following that wonderful reunion in Waaia at Easter I was inspired to add a journey into Devon and Cornwall. I was determined to see if my actual presence there could break through barriers I had not surpassed on Ancestry.com.

My interest, with a maiden name of Mills and being a granddaughter of one of the triplets (Andrew), is clearly Williams and Mills; in Cornwall and Devon it was Williams all the way. It was in this south-western corner of the United Kingdom that the delightfully named Zenobia George was born; where she married not one but two younger men, and from whence she adopted an entirely new life and made Devon the land of her past: from here she journeyed to the antipodes with her second husband Thomas Williams.



6 Brook St, Tavistock
Zenobia's birth place

Zenobia was born to James and Mary George (Dury) at 6 Brook Street, Tavistock. The 1841 census implies that she had a twin brother, Thomas; they were both 15 and both actively employed. Thomas was in the mines and Zenobia appears to have been working in the wool industry; although the designation is unclear she appears to have an “F-G” next to her name and this usually means ‘Fullers Girl’; a fuller cleansed wool to prepare it for spinning or weaving. There is no real mystery about Zenobia, only her parents, and this is where I was able to use my time in Devon to the most affect.

Mary George, at the age of 42, is represented as ‘independent’ in the 1841 census. So where was James? Unfortunately, this is a question that remains unanswered, but there are some interesting things to note:

 

• James was a tin dresser (according to Mary’s death certificate) – this occupation was one of many notoriously dangerous occupations in the mining industry in Cornwall; average age of death was 28 years – usually due to chronic lung conditions
• However, there is no death certificate for a James George of the right age in Cornwall or Devon between the birth of Zenobia and Thomas and the 1841 census.
• James and Mary married in 1817 and while they had one son in 1818 their other children were born in the late 1820’s – quite an extraordinary wait for the period. Did James travel? He certainly would have to have gone to Cornwall to dress tin.
• Until 1828, ALL tin dressing was done in Cornwall and then the industry had a fairly spectacular collapse and tin dressing would no longer have been a viable occupation. However, James’ mining skills should have been useful at the many copper and manganese mines in Devon so he should not have needed to leave the family for work.

My search for James continues, but my search for Mary was successful due to the incredibly helpful Cemetery Officer from Tavistock Council. I was aware that there was a non-conformist cemetery in Tavistock and, considering the tendencies of the Williams’ to be religious non-conformists in Australia I suspected I might find them there. I made my way to the Dolvin Road Cemetery and began a hands-on search; unsurprisingly, between the heat, waist high grass and weeds and centuries old headstones I was unsuccessful.

Dolvin Road cemetery before its haircut …

 

The George family headstone,
after the weeds had been removed

I returned to my roots of being a history teacher; what do I tell my students? There’s always a record somewhere … in Devon the council is well-equipped with both records and incredibly helpful employees. My one simple request to find if Mary was indeed buried at Dolvin Road led to a delightful small army of men armed with whipper snippers journeying to the cemetery, providing me with a brief lecture on the bizarre grid numbering system used at the cemetery, and then literally unearthing not only Mary’s grave but that of several of our forebears. It is unfortunately in bad condition, having broken into three pieces and laid flat on the grave.

As you can see from my facsimile, there was lots of information on the gravestone. Henry, born in 1818, looked after his mother in her old age. The 1871 census tells us he was a Mine Agent; an important and well paid job and he actually lived in a house supplied by the Mines authority. As you can see from their ages at death, apart from Henry’s first wife, the Williams’ clan tended to long life in an age when 46 was the average life expectancy.

I was overjoyed with that find and considered it the highlight of my couple of days searching, but there were other gems to be experienced. The beautiful River Tamar at Gunnislake where Zenobia and Thomas lived before departing for Australia; Tavistock Parish church where Zenobia and Thomas were married, the lovely house on Brook Street, the River Tavy and the township of Tavistock that was central to so much Williams and George activity. I rouse on my students for using too many superlatives, so I won’t start; I will recommend that if you ever have the opportunity to experience this pearl of the world then take it. If you have time to plan join the Devon Family History Society – they will laugh if you say you’re seeking Williams in Devon and Cornwall (it’s a very common surname in that corner of the world) but they are extremely helpful and have amazing resources.

So to my first question, why leave? As noted, the tin mining industry in Cornwall died in 1828, but this was not the end for the region – there were plenty of mines and plenty of opportunities for diversifying into copper, manganese, arsenic etc… the industrial revolution needed to be fuelled and this region provided every single necessary ore and mineral, except coal. The region remained strong in mining until the 1890’s, but from the 1850’s there was a concerted effort to encourage skilled workers to try their hand in the new regions beginning to boom; one of these was Australia. Assisted fairs were affordable to a reasonable number; often churches aided in payment of these schemes, particularly non-conformist churches, as they too wanted to spread their influence, but even the unassisted immigration scheme did not require an arm and a leg to afford. The Cornish diaspora began with the urging of a weakening economy and a promise of a stable future, albeit on the other side of the world. It is estimated that up to 250 000 Cornish miners and their families, as well as other tradesfolk who grasped the opportunities, emigrated between 1860 and 1900. We know that Thomas Williams was a copper miner, so perhaps my question is answered.

We must remember that in the midst of its industrial might the area would not have been quite as pretty as it is now; the landscape would have been scarred and pock-marked and the air would be rank with the detritus of the mining process. Perhaps Thomas and Zenobia were not turning their back on the beauty that Cornwall and Devon had to offer; but turning their face towards the beauty and splendour of a new life and new opportunities in this unique and beautiful land of ours.
 

The River Tamar at Morwellham Quay;
a copper mining site near Tavistock

The wheel remains at the mine at
Morwellham Quay