Written by the late Dr A K Hamilton Jenkin and published between 1961 and 1970 in sixteen volumes, Mines and Miners of Cornwall contains a vast amount of information about Cornwall's metal mines, mainly the smaller and more obscure sites. Whilst later research has overtaken some details it remains a valuable source for mining history. An excellent index to the 3,500 or so mines mentioned was produced by the late Geoffrey Ordish and published by the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. I have now indexed all personal names and hope this may be of use to researchers.
Can I make the point that this index is a by-product of my own personal researches into Cornish mining and industrial history and is placed on the web as a tool for research. In the majority of cases I have no further information on the persons mentioned and it was not my intention to invite queries for further research. This set of books is, I believe, now out of print but available at the Cornish Studies Library in Redruth and the Library of the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, and no doubt elsewhere. The Cornwall Look-up Exchange may be able to help locate names.
Very little editorial judgement has been exercised and names are recorded as they appear in the books. It should be borne in mind that the same name may refer to two or more people, particularly in the dynasties of the Cornish mining families and of the gentry. I have included titles where shown but not all Captains are mine captains; there are nautical and military types also. The names mentioned are of many occupations; miners, mine captains and engineers, agents, adventurers (shareholders or investors in modern parlance), mineral lords, landowners and their agents, mineral collectors and mineralogists, farmers, and friends and forebears of the author. There are comparatively few miners and most get a mention due to death or accident.
Each entry consists of a roman numeral, which is the volume number, followed by the page number(s) in that volume. I am reasonably confident as to the accuracy of the index but would be glad of any corrections and comments.
Michael Messenger
July 2002
mmc@twelveheads com
© M J Messenger 2003 (updated)
This page is hosted by Twelveheads Press, publishers of good books on mining and industrial history.
There are over 900 names and probably more than 1,400 page references in the index. Click on an initial letter to take you to that part of the index.
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