For centuries the precious
documents of the parish were stored in a locked
chest in the church for their safe keeping.
The St-Keverne Local History Society is hoping
to place on this web site as many of the numerous
documents, photographs, illustrations and
recordings relating to the history of the parish
of St-Keverne on the Lizard Peninsula Cornwall,
as it possibly can.
We hope to cater for everyone interested in the
parish history and the site will be useful to
those tracing their family history as well as
those with a more general interest.
The majority of the statutory documents such as
baptism, marriage and burial listings have been
in the care of the Cornwall County Record Office
since the early 1960's as have many other
records of interest to family historians such as
census returns, protestation returns and hearth
tax listings. But we feel that all of these are
of such fundamental interest that we must include
them.
We hold the archive produced by
Canon
Diggens who was vicar in St Keverne at the
end of the 19th century. He researched into
every aspect of our history available to him at
the time in both national and local archives.
One example, from the State records, of
information sent in 1640 to King Charles
1st from Algiers stating that "here are about 5,000 of your
subjects in miserable captivity...."
Over the centuries we have a number of records
of fishermen being snatched from their boats of
the coast of the parish by
"Algerines" and "Flemings"
and many of the 5,000 unfortunates mentioned
above would have been Cornish and from this
parish.
He also consulted "the oldest
inhabitants" and wrote down their memories
on subjects as varied as how the post office
were persuaded to deliver mail to the parish to
where buildings have been demolished.
The archive can be viewed by clicking on the
Canon Diggens links.
The parish has a history that can be traced
back for thousands of years and it has been
studied by numerous historians, both amateur
and professional, for several centuries. Ideas
change and opinions vary so if you are
researching a particular subject we suggest
that you consult as many sources as you can and
make your own mind.
St Keverne Parish - Genealogy
The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates
a look-up service to help family historians.
This service is new, so available information
may be limited. There are two OPCs for St
Keverne: Diane Donohue, and Terry Moyle; enquiries are welcomed by either.
St Keverne Local History Society
Podcasts
You can subscribe to our free podcasts which
include some of the Mohegan Tapes and talks
about St Keverne by clicking here.
You will need an mp3 player to listen, and a
news aggregator or feed reader to keep up to
date.
The Shipwreck of The SS Mohegan on the Manacles
in 1898 and the terrible loss of life of 106
passengers and crew, is told in tape recordings
made in October 1966 (now on CD).
The tapes record interviews with three St.
Keverne people who had either witnessed the
tragedy or who had heard first hand accounts of
it within their families.
You may download the St Keverne Parish
records, family genealogies, some of the
Mohegan tapes, and other recordings from the downloads page, to view
or listen to at your leisure.
A multimedia CD version of the Mohegan tapes,
which includes the the Archive of Canon
Diggens, Parish Records, Images of Coverack and
St Keverne can be purchased by clicking here.
How you can help
If you have origins in the parish we would like
to hear from you and if you have written the
history of your family we would like to include
it in the archive.
If you have enjoyed our website, why not make a donation towards its upkeep by clicking on the Make a Donation button now
For more information contact:-
The Secretary
Mr. Stephen Sobey
Telephone: 01 326 240 205
For centuries the precious
documents of the parish were stored in a locked
chest in the church for their safe keeping.
We hold the archive produced by
