Saturday, November 20, 2010

Surname Saturday: My Cornwall Connection



It's been a busy week for genealogy research!   I acquired several different "DNA cousins" through 23andMe, which prompted a flurry of research activity.  One of them lives in Cornwall, England, and his family has lived there for generations.  I was very, very excited to meet him!

My maternal great great grandmother CORDELIA RICKARD was born 1829 in Kenwyn parish, Cornwall, England. I have written about her a couple of times, as she is the "Woman in the Photograph" that I use as my i.d. photo for this blog.

Finding an actual DNA link to Cornwall inspired me to attempt to find out more about my RICKARD ancestors and their relations. So I spent a good part of the week perusing the Cornwall Online Parish Clerk website.  This is a wonderful resource for anyone researching in Cornwall.  Without it, I would have never been able to find out about my family history there.

This week I finally found my gg grandmother CORDELIA's baptism record (surname misspelled), and although she was likely born in Kenwyn, she was baptised in Chacewater Parish, Sept 6, 1829, along with her siblings SAMUEL RICKARD (died young 1841), and HENRY RICKARD (died childhood). Another younger sibling HENRY VARLEY RICKARD was baptised in Chacewater in 1832. The rest of the older siblings-- WILLIAM RICKARD, MARY RICKARD (m JOHN BUNT),  RICHARD HICKS RICKARD (died young), EMMA RICKARD,  RICHARD RICKARD Jr,  JOSEPH RICKARD, and MARK RICKARD-- were baptised in Kenwyn Parish.

I also discovered that my gg grandmother was descended from a long line of CORDELIAs.  And that her full name was CORDELIA HICKS RICKARD (after her mother CORDELIA HICKS who married RICHARD RICKARD).

My ggg grandfather RICHARD RICKARD b abt 1783 was an Innkeeper and "victualler" in Chacewater and Blackwater.  He died Jan 28, 1835 in Blackwater, Chacewater Parish, Cornwall.  His widowed wife & several of his children (including my gg grandmother) emigrated to the United States in 1845 on the ship "Henry Clay".

Here is the list of surnames from Cornwall that I added to my family tree this week: RICKARD, HICKS, GILL, VARLEY, GILBERT, JENNINGS, WEARNE or WARNE,  EVA,  MURLEY,  BRAY or BRAYE, DANIELL or DANIEL.

For more information, see my Rootsweb online family tree "New England Ancestors of Ruby Bolton Brown."




Have a great day!

Betty


© Betty Tartas  2010

1 comment:

Barbara Poole said...

Betty, I'm glad some of your DNA researching through 123andMe is really paying off. What wonderful news about Cordelia, and her ancestry. I especially liked knowing the story behind the photo I so often see. It must have been fun researching in another country and making this connection. Good for you.