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                   A Miners Cottage in Cornwall

OUR POLGLASE HERITAGE 2

The Polglase family had lived in a the small village of Breage in Cornwall for over 300 years before our branch of the family migrated to Australia in 1864.
   So lets take a look at where our ancestors came from.
To the Cornishman who knows anything of the light in which his country was formerly regarded by those who dwelt outside it's borders, the present renown of the 'Delectable Duchy' still provides cause for surprise, and amusement, so great is the change of attitude towards it on the part of his English neighbours. For Cornwall itself, to all intents and purposes , is still the self-same land, which was known to the writers of old, it's coastline just as stern and rugged, it's climate not appreciably changed though now being advertised as 'Britains Riviera'. Today, no less than in the past, Atlantic gales still buffet it's cold, cruel line of cliffs for weeks on end, whilst hill and moorland lie soaked and hidden beneath the cloud and driving rain.
Cornwall wrote Andrew Borde in 1542, "Is a pore and very barren coutnrey of al, maner things, except Tyn and Fyshe," (Introduction to Knowledge) whilst even a native poet was fain to write:
                              O Cornwall ! wretched spot of barren ground,
                              Where hardly ought but rock and furze is found,
                              Thy produce scarce provides thy sons with bread,
                             Nor finds them wood for coffins when they're dead.
                            (CF. Cornish Notes and Quiers, 1906, 310)

Into that old Cornwall wherein wheeled traffic was unknown and the lives of rich and poor alike lay untouched by any outside influences, there came the figue of John Wesley, whose influence in the conversion of the people to Methodism marks one of the chief milestones in Cornish history. (Cornwall and it's People, by A.K. Hamilton Jenkins.)
         A few extracts from Jenkins book, Cornwall and it's people.
   'The villages owe their origin not to any communal spirit, nor to the love of human fellowship and society. Economic necessity, such as the development of mining, clay working, or quarrying, call them into being.
   Most of the inhabitants of Cornwall, in the past at any rate, lived neither in church town or in village, but in lonely farms and scattered cottages, the latter dumped where and anyhow --in odd corners of the roadside, on rocky ledges above fishing coves, or amidst the shafts, 'burrows', and debris of the mines. '
From R. K. Johns, in 'Cornish Mining Heritage, we read: 'The recovery of tin in Cornwall dates from the Bronze Age and 'tinners' were at work before 2000 BC. The tin trade was maintained by the Celts in the Iron age and there has been more or less continuous production from the region since that time.
     In the era of tin mining the landscape looked something like planet Mars with piles of mullock all over the dug up valleys and hills.
The parish of Breage and the adjoining parish of Germoe are dominated by granite masses of Tregonning and the Godolphin Hills where Bronze-Age man exploited the extensive tin deposits, beginning an industry that would mould the landscape and people for thousands of years to come. Around AD 1100 the Godolphin family emerged as the dominate local family acquiring much of the parish lands and fostering a community of highly independent tinners. Such was the wealth accrued that by the 1860s. Sydney Godolphin held the highest rank in the country, that of Lord High treasurer" (source; 'The Book of Breage & Germoe; by Stephen Polglase).
   Breage today is a very quiet village with a small development of modern bungalows. Many of the older mine houses and cottages have been bought and modernised by sailors and airmen from the nearby naval air station called Culdrone. the village has a post office, village stores and a small hair-dresser. there are still a few working farms in the area and there is a little fishing but no other work now that mining is finished. tourism is their main source of income.
The Queens Arms, is the only pub in the village now and dates from the 14th. century. It has a vast collection of decorative plates hung on every beam throughout the bars and restaurant. Older villagers recall with pleasure the days when Breage was busy and bustling with miners coming to collect their wages and staying to spend them in the many and varied shops the village then possessed. there were also three inns, very well used on pay day.
Ponies and traps called 'jousters' supplied the village regularly with fresh food, including one which came regularly from Porthleven bringing fish straight from the fishing boats. When the driver called 'fresh herring and fresh mackerel', it really was fresh'. (source; compiled by The federation of women's Institute; first published 1991).
   Our family have been in many parts of Cornwall for many centuries. John and his wife Mary Hosking both came from the village of Breage, John's ancestors had lived there from the 1500s. 'The name Breage, (pronounced to rhyme with vague, if you live outside the village, but for those who live in the village the pronunciation rhymes with breeze), was named after a saint called Breaca.

A LITTLE ENGLISH HISTORY
   Some of the records below can not be positively documented as some documents are simply not available for many reasons, such as lose through fire and damage etc. One main reason though is what is called 'The Commonwealth Gap'; I think it should also be called The Generation gap'!
   In 1640 civil war broke out in England with the Royalist on one hand fighting to save King Charles 1st. and the Parliamentarians (Round Heads) fighting to remove the monarchy, making a Republic possible for the first time. The Round Heads were led by Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan. Many bloody battles followed. which resulted in Oliver Cromwell taking the crown of Charles 1st.--and his head with it in 1649.
      There followed the Act to Abolish the Office of King 17-3-1649; Abolish the House of Lords 19-3-1649. Cromwell then ruled England and abolished the monarchy. England declared a Commonwealth (Republic) 19-5-1649, for the next 20 + years.
   A Parliamentary ordinance had declared Bishops, Deans and Chaplains abolished. Prior to this Deans would send annual records of Baptisms, Deaths and Marriages to the Bishop. These were known as 'The Bishops Transcripts', where they have survived they are very useful to family historians.
    At first the Commonwealth churchmen were obliged to have Baptisms administered in their own homes, and by an edict of November 1655 even this was made a crime. Marriages from 1649--1660 were forbidden in church. In 1653 the Commonwealth government decreed the responsibility for the keeping of records of births deaths and marriages should be transferred to a local registrar, who would charge four-pence for a Baptism and one shilling for a Marriage. If one could not afford the cost the event was not registered.
    From 1654 the actual marriage formalities, however were conducted by a Justice of the Peace (JP) and treated as a civil ceremony. Banns were called in the market place and the marriage celebrated at the JP's residence. In fact very few birth and marriage records are available for this period known as the Commonwealth Gap. (source, Cornwall Bishop's Transcript).
The Cornwall Bishop's Transcripts have no records at all from 1651--1670. This makes recording families for that time a bit of guess work, you find a marriage in the 1680s. and guess they were born in the 1660s This will be particularly evident in the fourth generation listed below.
   Cromwell died in September 1658, Phillip Skipton took over leadership in 1659, but in 1660 Charles 2nd. was brought back from France and crowned King of England, but this time on the people's term, as a figure head only.
   The early 18th. century saw the death of William 3rd. Queen Ann succeeded to the throne. About this time the shops of London, which had previously been little more than street stalls and markets, became gaily decorated with glass windows in which to display their pretty trifles. Now selling new-fangled luxuries which appeared to the renowned historian, Daniel Defoe, as signs of degeneracy and impending ruin. He complained in 1713, "coffee, tea and chocolate are now becoming the capital branches of this nation's commerce" !! (editor's note--some things never change)
The middle of the century brought a wave of evangelistic preaching, in strong contrast to the staid sermons of the established Church of England. The 'One Nation One Faith' policy of Queen Elizabeth a hundred years earlier, was being severely challenged. This led to much religious persecution in England of 'non-conformists' churches, that was anything other than C of E. It was one reason for early emigration.

OUR POLGLASE ANCESTORS
     Taken from the International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.), Census Records, and Bishops Transcripts. As stated above the Bishop's Transcripts are baptism dates, so as a general rule most of the first dates are baptismal dates, not birth dates.

First Generation:
   Alexander Polglase bapt. about 1564, married 27-11-1584, Margaret Lowry
Known children of Alexander and Margaret Polglase
    1/Alexander bapt. abt. 1585, married Eleanor Willyams (Williams)
    2/ Richard b. Breage abt. 1586
    3/ William b. Breage abt. 1590
    4/ Thomas b. Breage 25-10-1597

Second Generation:
    Known children of Alexander and Eleanor Polglase
1/ Phillippus (Phillip) b. 20-6-1608, married Margaret Ponsow
2/ Eleanor b. 6-4-1610, Breage
3/ Ralph b.4-11-1611 Breage

Third Generation:
   Known children of Phillip and Margaret Polglase
1/ Thomas b. 31-8-1634 Breage, married 31-10-1687 Prudence Trounce at Breage.
2/ Willimus (William) b. 7-2-1638, married abt. 1659 Mary
3/ John b. 29-10-1641
4/ Henri b. 14-10-1645, Breage married Mary Trounce, 30-4-1681, Breage

Fourth Generation:
   Known children of William and Mary Polglase
1/ Henry b. abt. 1658, married 30-4-1681 Mary Truce
2/ John b. abt. 1660, married abt. 1680 Elizabeth Symons
3/ William b. abt. 1662, married 30-10-1682 Mary Symons, (School Teacher)
4/ Prudence b. abt 1668, married 19-11-1688 John Thomas, their daughter Elizabeth Thomas married Thomas Polglase.

Fifth Generation:
   Known children of William and Mary Polglase
1/ William b. 13-1-1684, married 4-8-1705 Ann Tyack
2/ Mary b. 1688, married 16-10-1708 Henry Polglase
3/John b. 23-3-1694, married 22-12-1718 Alice Thomas
Alexander b. 3-3-1688, married Elizabeth Stephens 11-8-1715 ?

Sixth Generation:
   Known children of John and Alice Polglase
1/ John b. 26-12-1719
2/ Joseph b. 15-4-1723
3/ Sampson b. 14-1-1728, married 20-10-1764 Margaret Polglase, bapt. 28-12-1737, who was his cousin, daughter of Alexander Polglase b. 5-3-1688/9 and Elizabeth Stephens. Sampson and Margaret both signed the marriage certificate with their marks.

Seventh Generation:
    Known children of Sampson and Margaret Polglase
1/ Prudence b. 26-12-1765
2/ Sampson b. 5-9-1771, married 29-10-1804 Catherine Richards (widow), nee Cornish. Sampson and Catherine were married by C. Trevanion Kempe, they both signed the certificate with their marks. Henry Carter and George Hebbard were witnesses to the marriage, they both signed their names on the certificate.
3/ Alice b. 7-7-1776 d. infant
4/ Alice b. 25-7-1780
5/ Alva b. 25-7-1780

Eighth Generation:
    Children of Sampson and Catherine Polglase
1/ Alice bapt. 28-1-1806 died same year
2/ Alice b. 1-1-1807
3/ John b. 24-41808
4/ William b. 5-5-1810, married 1833 Mary Sorrell (Searl/e) William and Mary were married in a double wedding ceremony with Mary's sister Sarah Sorrell and James Kitto. The service was conducted by Curate, Horatio Todd; both brides and grooms signed the certificates with their marks. William and Mary's witnesses were Henry Williams and ?Mid Ki..(photo copy ineligible) James and Sarah's witnessed were Benjamin Polglase, (Probably son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Polglase, relationship not yet found), and Henry Williams who both signed their names to the certificates
5/ Maryanne b. 2-1-1814
6/ Samuel b. 30-7-1815

Ninth Generation:
   Children of William and Mary Polglase as recorded on the 1851 Census:
1/ Frances bapt. 17-6-1833, age 18 Tin-Dresser, later married Mr. Jones and moved to New Zealand.
2/ William b. 8-8-1835
3/ Sarah Ann b. 26-12-1836 at Travena, age 15 Tin-Dresser
4/ John b. 4-1-1838, d 10-9-1838
5/ Isabella b. 1839, age 12 Tin-Dresser
6/ John b. 6-7-1841, age 10 Tin-Dresser, married 13-2-1861 Mary Hosking
7/ Thomas b. 1842, age 8 Tin-Dresser, emigrated to Sth Australia, March 1864, died 24-9-1866, result of a mining accident, Sandhurst, Victoria.
8/ Catherine b. 1844, age 6
Samuel b. 1849, age 2

In 1841 William was a Tin-Dresser living in Travina/Treevina with Mary and their four children and his sister Alice. In 1851 they are living in Tolmenor. William is now a farmer on 3 acres of land. His son William is not living with the family, now age 16 he is probably working and living away from home, or he may have died before 1851.
    As we see that by the age of 8 the children are all working as Tin-Dresser; this occupation is at ground level of the mines. John's statement at the inquest on the death of his brother Tom, states that he had worked in the mines since the age of 11. John and Mary were married in the 14th. century Church of England in Breage, which is noted for the restoration of paintings on the walls. The ceremony was performed by Curate, Henry Stone; Carolyn Burges and Thomas Taylor were witnesses who signed their names on the certificate, as did Mary; John signed with his mark.
A point of interest in regard to their names,-- on his birth certificate John's surname is spelt POLGLASE, on the marriage certificate it is spelt POLGLAZE --so much for the sees not being related to the zees --it simply depends on who is writing it.

JOHN AND MARY

                                John Henry (Harry) Polglase
                           1841 Breage, Cornwall, England
                           1916, Fryerstown, Victoria, Australia.

On the 24th. March 1861, one month after they were married, John and Mary Polglase embarked on their future together in Australia aboard the sailing ship 'UTOPIA', sailing from Liverpool. The voyage would probably not have lived up to its name, as it was a slower voyage than average, but perhaps the name Utopia was a good omen for the newly weds.
   The nominal passenger list records John & Mary had come from Gloucester and were going to friends in Adelaide. It also recorded John could read but not write and Mary could could both read and write, and that they were of the Wesleyan religion.
   The ship arrived in Melbourne on the 25th. June 1861 ending a 93 day voyage, when the average length of time for the voyage was 75-80 days.

When the gold rush started in Australia in 1851 hundreds of people were clamouring to get to Australia as fast as possible. So instead of following roughly the forty degree line of latitude across the Indian Ocean from the Cape of Good Hope to Melbourne, as ships had done since the time of the early Dutch explorers, the new and more dangerous route known as the 'composite great circle', calculated by John Thomas Towson was adopted. As the shortest distance between any two points of the globe lies along the shortest arc of the great circle joining them. But the true great circle route linking Europe to Australia crosses part of the Antarctic continent, consequently a compromise had to be reached: masters were all directed to sail as close to the great circle as ice and the state of the ship allowed, as this reduced the average length of a voyage from Liverpool, from 120 days to 75-80. One ship did it in 68 days.
   The new route meant passengers experienced extreme weather condition, they may swelter crossing the equator, sometimes waiting days for a suitable wind to get them moving; before the winds known as 'The Roaring 40.' blew them south to gales and storms of the Antarctic where many feared for their lives.
    After arriving in Melbourne, John and Mary spent a month there, possibly with Mary's brother because they boarded the interstate colonial ship 'Balcluthia' on the 20th. July 1861 for Adelaide; also on board was 23 year old Mr. Hosking. Mary was by now pregnant, it is assumed they then went straight to the copper mines at Burra-Burra.
The district of Burra-Burra (the name Hindustani for Great-Great) was a thriving mining town since copper was discovered there in 1845; almost $10 million worth of copper was extracted before the mine closed in 1877. Along the creek some of the dugouts remain where more than 2,000 people lived during the boom period.
Burra nestled in Bald Hills Range 154 km north of Adelaide is now famous for it's sheep and serves as a market town for the surrounding farmland. (source: Explore Australia; BP)
   By the time John and Mary arrived in Burra, the mining of copper had been established for about 10 years.
   Burra began it's life as the mining township of Kooring, at that time the mining company provided cottages only for it's more skilled miners, mechanics, and mine officials, most ordinary miners found their own accommodation or lived rent free in the dug-outs in, not on, the bank of the creek. these inhabitants were often called 'the Creek dwellers'. Bert Polglase records that his grandparents lived in one of these dug-outs for a short time when they first arrived.

   Relics of Hampton Township. c.1995
By 1851 Burra had become a collection of English towns with a population of 5,000. It was Australia's seventh largest inland centre prior to the discovery of gold in eastern Australia.
    When their first son John Henry, also known as Harry, was born on 8th. Feb. 1862, John and Mary were living in one of the cottages in Hampton Village.

LIFE IN VICTORIA:
       By 1864 John, Mary and little Harry had moved to the Victorian gold fields; probably travelling via the dirt track 'roads' with a horse and buggy and whatever household goods they had; this would have been an eventful and interesting journey.
1864 was an eventful year for John and Mary as on 28th. Feb. that year their second chid, Thomasina Mary was born and died the same day at Sandhurst, later known as Bendigo. It is situated 152 kilometres north west of Melbourne.
On the 7th. April that same year John's younger brother Thomas arrived aboard the ship, 'Ocean Chief' having left Plymouth 2nd. Jan. The ships passenger list records Thomas to have been of good behaviour !! It must have been an exciting time for all to catch up on the news of Cornwall and Australia.
In 1865 another daughter named Thomasina Mary was born at Castlemaine, situated 119 kilometres from Melbourne, along with Kyneton and Maldon epitomises the gold-mining towns of north western Victoria.
   By 1866 6he family are back in Sandhurst, on Monday 24th. September 1866, tragedy again struck John and Mary. John was at work at the Dafoley Company in Long Gully at Sandhurst and Thomas at the Albania Company Claim on the Redaw Reef. About 6 weeks earlier Thomas, together with Richard Chappel, Richard Stevens and Henry Martin had taken out a contract to sink a shaft on the aforesaid claim to a depth of 200 feet, and also to timber it with timberings to be provided by the company. Everything had been going fine until about 4 PM that Monday afternoon. The shaft had been sunk and timbered40 feet from the surface, at that depth they commenced and sank for 60 feet more, having done this they timbered the shaft from the bottom upwards until they met the previous timberings, they had nearly completed their work. the shaft was 11 feet long from east to west and 5 feet 6 inches wide from north to south where it is not timbered, but where the accident happened it is timbered, there the shaft would measure 9 feet in length and 3 feet wide. Thomas was working with Henry Martin finishing the slabbing, they were in the usual way standing upon loose closely fitting slabs laid upon a string frame which rested upon the sets. Henry was putting in a slab on the western side with his back to Thomas who was slabbing up the eastern end. Henry first heard the noise of a slab and then a scream as Thomas fell down the shaft. Thomas suffered a fractured skull and died two days later in hospital.
   Immediately after the accident one of Thomas's mates went and told John, who first went home and learned Thomas was in hospital so went there. (source: taken from evidence given at the inquest held at Sandhurst on the 27th. April 1866.)

To be continued
7-11- 2009
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