 |
- Latest News - |
2019 Speakers2018 Speakers2017 Speakers
|
Saturday 17th August 2024 - Brian Rollason delivered his presentation titled "A Short Tour of the Helford River, Glenduran Gardens and Gwennap Pit". Listen and watch the presentations here. Saturday 20th July 2024 - The CAV AGM A complete report from this meeting can be found in the August 2021 CAV Newsletter. Click here to open and read the entire edition. Click on this link to see all the Newsletters produced in recent years. Newsletters Saturday 15th June 2024 - Cornish Villages and Towns Close to the Hearts of CAV Members Ten members of the Association each presented a short story about a village or town in Cornwall. The presenters and their topics were these. Lucy Hamilton - St Minver; Janet Woolhouse - Trewellard/St Just: Frances von Kalm - St Mary's; Penny McGuire-White - Madron; Max Procter - Pendeen; Ronald Hawkens - Leedstown; Robyn Coates - Morwenstow; Judy Wright - Hayle; Marjorie Barrett - Layard/St Buryan; Ken Peak - Heamoor. Listen and watch the presentations here. Saturday 18th May 2024 - Historic and Community Festivals in Cornwall. Compiled and presented by Judy Wright. Saturday 20th April 2024 - The Story of Richard Trevithick. Compiled by Judy Wright and Evelyn Jones, with assistance from the late Lindsay Chapman Narrated by Evelyn Jones Saturday 16th March 2024 The meeting commenced with a presentation by Judy Wright titled "News from Cornwall - March 2024". Next Robyn Coates "St. Piran's Day 2024 in Cornwall and for the CAV in Ballarat. Ken Peak then presented "The Tale of Saint Piran" Watch this story below. Finally Robyn Coates with help from Eileen Carter and Ken Peak told us about the hisory and current state of St Piran's Oratory. Watch below. Saturday 17th February 2024 - Stories, Legends and Folklore: A tour of St Michael's Mount with Ken Peak and Ronald Hawken Here is a video of the presentation. Saturday 3rd December 2023 - Annual Christmas Luncheon - at the Ballarat Grand There was great fun, friendship, good food, quizzes
and singing. A great time was had by all in
attendance.
November 18th 2023 - Brian Rollason - Pendennis and St Mawes Castles. The attendees had lunch before the meeting began. Then it was singing of Trelawny. Ken Peak gave a report includ8ing showing photos of the opening of the Cornish section of the Castlemaine Library so take a look at the photos. Click here Here is a video recording of Brian's presentation. Wednesday 18th October 2023 - the launch of the CAV Library at the Castlemaine Historical Society - 7 Goldsmith Crescent, Castlemaine To view the photo gallery for this event, Click hereSeptember 17th 2023 we were joined over Zoom by academic Emeritus Professor Matthew Spriggs, now resident in Vanuatu. Matthew detailed the project to publish the entire body of Cornish language texts pre-1800 in definitive academic editions and provided background for those of less versed in the history of the Cornish language. One thing that pleased a number of members was learning of Matthew’s recent experience of accessing texts at the Morrab library, noting the change post-pandemic in allowing researchers to use their mobile phones to photograph texts. It makes a research visit to Morrab library a lot more efficient and affordable for non-local visitors – I certainly took note of this! Thanks once again to our speakers for taking the time to prepare presentations and share them with us. Helen Morgan August 19th 2023 - a Zoom Meeting at 5.00 pm - our speaker was John Gamblin - “The Pull of Penzance” Taking advantage of the favourable time difference between Cornwall and Melbourne, in August we welcomed John Gamblin, presenting live from Penzance. I have followed John for a few years now on X (formerly Twitter) – @Gamb0 [the last character is the number zero] – enjoying his year long project to photograph Mounts Bay and St Michael’s Mount from his apartment window. John is a founder member and trustee of The Mentor Ring and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. John spoke about ‘the pull of Penzance’ on him when he retired. Not originally from Cornwall he was attracted to Penzance by the beautiful architecture and institutions like the Morrab Library, where he now volunteers, and Penlee House. It was a most enjoyable presentation, especially for those of us who similarly feel the pull of Penzance from our family connections. John shared a wonderful photograph he’d only just taken of the Abbey Steps and compared it with Stanhope Forbes’s well-known painting, The Inner Harbour – Abbey Slip (1921) of the exact same spot, both capturing the same sense of life and enjoyment. This led to a discussion about Stanhope Forbes and Penny shared that her great aunt features as a model in a Stanhope Forbes painting. It was great connection to make. July 16th 2023 - AGM followed by Members' Show and Tell The first member to contribute was Judy Wright, the President of the New Zealand Cornish Association. She shared two stories in this first video, the "Holyer an Gof" Publication Awards and the Victorian and New Zealand entries this year followed by the story of The Tregellas Tapestry and her mother's involvement in its production. Take a look. Judy concluded by showing us the Red River Singers rendition of "Cornwall My Home" and suggesting we sing along. Join her here. Robyn Coates, Brian Rollason and Ken Peak made a contribution. Here they are. Neil Thomas, Diana Wheeler and Penny McGuire-White also contributed but at this stage the transcript of there stories is not available. June 17th 2023 - Ken Peak, "William and Jane Peak of Drayton, Queensland. May 13th 2023 - Our speaker via zoom was Dr Lesley Trotter from Cornwall via Zoom. We did not have permission to record Lesley's presentation but a summary will appear in the next CAV newsletter. April 15th 2023 Dr Stephen Morey - Rotten Boroughs of Cornwall The ‘rottenness’ refers to the electoral constituencies not proportionally reflecting the number of constituents and being open to bribery. Looe, for example, was broken up into two districts, East and West Looe, with four members of parliament representing the good (and small number of) people of Looe, while the great city of Manchester had none! Cornwall had a lot of these boroughs. For further information, Stephen directed us to the Wikipedia pages on UK parliamentary constituencies, which are detailed and well referenced. Here are two sites to view, Rotten_and_pocket_boroughs and Constituencies_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom March 18th 2023 - Dr Charlotte Mackenzie "Cornish healthcare in Georgian Cornwall" Charlotte spoke about her current research interests in Cornish healthcare in Georgian Cornwall, describing the interconnections between legend, historical individuals and healthcare, including the society of ‘skilful aunts’ on the Isles of Scilly. To read more about Charlotte's presentation read the report in the May Newsletter by Clicking Here February 18th 2023 - Michelle Scott Tucker Presents Her Story of Elizabeth Macarthur December 11th 2022 - Christmas Luncheon In a break from tradition, members gathered at Young and jackson's famouse hotel at the corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Street in the heart of Melbourne. This proved to be another highlight. The food was good, the company exceptional amd all attendees had a memorable day. November 20th 2022: Robyn Coates "The Isles of Scilly - St Mary's" Robyn, with the aid of a collection of her photographs, took us with her as she spent a day flying from Cornwall to St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly, then spending six hours looking at the historical landmarks and the town today. This was a meeting that was seen live via Zoom and the sound quality was poor so you can read Robyn's notes by clicking here and watch her slides in the panel below. October 15th 2022: Neil Thomas Neil shared information about a distant Cornish cousin, James Martin, who was a very successful business man in South Australia. To see a full report of Neil's presentation, read it on page 5 in the November 2022 CAV Newsletter by Clicking Here Here is a video of the CAV meeting on the 15th which includes Neil's Presentation September 17th 2022: September - Brian Rollason Through Brian Rollason’s illustrated talk, "A scenic trail of churches on the Lizard Peninsula", members were able to see churches from Mawgan in Meneage, Manaccan, St Anthony in Meneage; St Keverne, Ruan Minor, Grade, Landewednack, Mullion, Cury and Gunwalloe. Here is a sample but see below for a link to Brian's full presentation.
https://www.cornishvic.org.au/docs/A%20Scenic%20Church%20Trail%20of%20The%20Lizard%20Peninsula.pdf August 20th 2022 – Family History Month with Helen Morgan Based on her ongoing family history research, August speaker Helen Morgan presented on Cornish family history sources in acknowledgement of Family History Month and explored one of the enduring mysteries from her research – all ideas welcome! Helen gave us insights into research techniques she used. A full report of Helen's presentation can be found on page 3 of the November 2022 CAV Newsletter by Clicking Here. Helen also shared her family history website, "Dearest, Are you in Melbourne?" which contains full references for the above research: https://ancestry.helenmorgan.net/ From Helen's Website. Her story of the the Blewett family can be read further down the page under the report of the August 2021 meeting.
Saturday July 11th - Monday 13th June - Portarlington Celtic Festival - the Geelong Branch had a stall during the Festival For the first time in several years, the Geelong Branch took part in the National Celtic Festival, held at Portarlington. With the assistance of other branch members our stall was open for the three days of the long weekend in June. Despite being partially exposed to the elements a good time of fellowship was enjoyed and interesting conversations about Cornish heritage were had with members of the public. Neil Thomas
Saturday June 18th 2022 - CAV Annual General Meeting Saturday May 21st 2022 - Dr Margaret Bullen: “A personal history of a Curno and a small window into the history of Curnow.” Saturday March 19th 2022 - Beryl and Ted Curnow and Living and Working in Cornwall Between 2003 and 2005 Ted and Beryl lived and Ted worked in Cornwall. Ted had been appointed as a Methodist minister there and they have a wonderful story to tell. I apologies for the quality of the sound for this hybrid meeting but beryl can be understood and there photographs give an insight into their life in Cornwall. Saturday February 19th 2022 - Shauna Hicks ‘The Cornish in Queensland’ particularly the Trevaskis and Rosewarne families. James Henry Trevaskis was born in St Hilary and married Ann Semmens from Perranuthnoe in 1859 and with their three young children - James, Nicholas and Annie - arrived in South Australia in 1864. Sadly, Ann died in March 1865, in Moonta, leaving a husband and three young children. In September 1865, James married Elizabeth Rosewarne in Wallaroo. A daughter Dorcas Trevaskis was born in June 1866. Dorcas was the great grandmother of Shauna. Between 1866 and 1868, the family travelled to Copperfield in Queensland where a son John Trevaskis was born in 1868. How they travelled to Queensland is unknown – it may have been by coastal vessel to Rockhampton or it may have been overland. James Henry Trevaskis is unaccounted for between 1869 and 1873 and Ann is left with five young children. It is assumed that he died and either his death was not registered or cannot be found in the registers. In December 1873, Elizabeth married George Guy – the marriage certificate suggests Elizabeth is a widow and George Guy was born in Madron. Three sons – James Henry, George and Christopher William – were born at Copperfield. With diminishing supplies of copper and the attraction of gold, the family shifted to Charters Towers. George Guy died in 1894 and Elizabeth Guy died in 1905. Throughout the presentation Shauna had weaved photos from various libraries to show the communities, and sometimes the conditions, in which the families were living. In her research, she had used online birth, death and marriage registrations from various states and also the SA State archives to track down shipping arrivals. She reminded us to re-visit databases regularly as more and more records are digitized but to also check record parameters when we cannot find a family member, as not all have been digitized. Purchasing birth, death and marriage certificates, although expensive at times, did reveal many secrets – however the information on these certificates is only as good as the knowledge of the person providing the information and over the years correct names and some details can be confused or lost. Shauna found many articles on TROVE – in newspapers and gazettes but also digitized books which were online. Advertisements in books gave an insight into the people and places and books often held detailed maps of the areas where relatives may have settled. Newspaper Obituaries often gave details which were unknown to family researchers. Inquest reports and wills and probate files often filled in missing information – even advertisements for claims on personal estates can hold details. Another source of information is in what Shauna labelled chain migration where siblings in families travelled to Australia. Families in Australia stayed in touch with their families in Cornwall and in Shauna’s research she knows that siblings of James Trevaskis, Elizabeth Rosewarne and George Guy all came to Australia. Shauna reminded us that most Cornish families settled in locations where there was mining so online cemetery databases in those areas can often show family names. The presentation was very informative and most people would have gleaned some suggestions to follow through in their own research. Saturday December 11th 2021 The meeting commenced with a Pasty Lunch at 12.00 noon Luncheon was followed by our first Zoom meeting broadcast from Oakleigh and although there were a couple of technical mishaps along the way, it was very successful and enabled good interaction. After a welcome in Cornish by our President Ken Peak and the singing of Trelawney, we caught up with some Cornish news from various sources and some CAV members’ news. Lauris Allen played the piano for some traditional carols and one Cornish Carol; we had a Quiz which was fun - the winner of which was John Webb from Toronto, Canada - and we had some time where those at Oakleigh could chat with those on Zoom. Ken Peak and Brian Rollason had donated prizes for a Christmas Raffle - these were won by Neil Thomas, Ann Locke and Penny McGuire-White.
Saturday November 20th 2021 Chris Dunkerley from CANSW shared some insights into Cornish Mining and Miners in NSW This was a zoom meeting From the Toronto Cornish Association - October 2021 "The Search for the Lady Ages" Presented to the TCA by Roger Radcliffe via Zoom from his home in Cornwall. Permission has bee received for this to be available from our website. You can read a condensed account on the TAC website by following this link October 16th: Dr Cate Frieman - Archaeology Discoveries in Cornwall. Cate has discovered a prehistoric Bronze-Age barrow, or burial mound, on a hill in Cornwall. The site dates back to around 2,000 BC and was discovered by chance when Cate was conducting geophysical surveys of a known site outside the village of Looe in Cornwall and was approached by a farmer about a possible site in a neighbouring field. Watch this fascinating story. September 18th Robyn Coates: Adoniah Vallack, Cornish Doctor and his adventures in Australia Robyn came upon the name Adoniah Vallack while reading the Ballarat Historical Society's August 2020 edition of "Lamplight". This prompted her curiosity to know more. After much research she now believes Adoniah Vallack's story should be more widely known. Listen to it below but a summary may be read in the August 2021 edition of the Ballarat CAV Newsletter which can be found here.
Helen tells the story of Gabriel Blewett who, with his sons, left Cornwall for Melbourne in 1853. He was a stone mason and contributed to the building of many of the important early building in Melbourne. He and his family experienced success and tragedies. Watch and listen to this fascinating story.
Austell is a gold mining engineer and gave a fascinating presentation to the Ballarat Branch about the teachniques used to find possible gold mining sites and modern methods of mining and metal extraction. To watch this presentation, go to the Branches, Ballarat webpage and scroll down. July 17th Readings from "Agan Kernow" with Neil, Derek, Brian, Ted and Ken This followed the AGM Ken Peak, our President, has been working with members of the Cornish Diaspora here and in other countries, to assemble stories and recollections pertaining the Cornwall, to enable the publishing of a book to be entitled "Agan Kernow" Here we listen to some of the contributors reading their stories for us. June 19th Ted and Beryl Curnow: The Seasons in Cornwall Ted took up a two year appointment as a Methodist Minister in Cornwall. He is a keen photographer and here he and Beryl show us a selection of their images depicting the seasons.
This Festival was held on the Copper Coast of South Australia - in the towns of Kadina, Wallaroo and Moonta. The program included Dressing the Graves, a Seminar, Concerts, a Dinner, a Parade, a Bardic Ceremony and a Heritage Church Service.
May 15th - A Celebration Including Show and Tell the ???brainchild??? of our Cornish born vice-President Brian Rollason What a wonderful day for our first meeting together in person, since March last year, with spontaneous warm greetings and catch up. Our President Ken Peak, warmly welcomed us all with his ???Dohajydh da??? Cornish greeting (good afternoon) to all and said how great to After singing ???Hailed the Homeland??? Ken shared many interesting and newsy items from Cornwall Ken had prepared for us. Brian Rollason displayed four impressive Cornish paintings/prints, beautifully framed each significant from his birthplace area around Falmouth. Ken Peak talked of his relatives John Peak & Sons who owned a Picture Framing shop in Penance. Evelyn Jones showed a small souvenir bear ???I love Cornwall??? and some pictures of Charleston Harbour near St Austell with a brief overview of same. Beth Coote showed pics by Stanhope Forbes and also a pic of the Tolvern Stone at Gweek seven ft six ins high with a hole in the middle with belief that if you passed a sick child through the hole they would get better! Ray Nicholas showed a delightful little model of a pilot gig boat made with Cornish elm, noting gig racing very popular in Cornwall with 13 clubs on the Scilly Isles and some competing in international events. Penny McGuire-White spoke from her father???s book on Madron Well and its healing properties -- used also as a baptistry. Val Goldsworthy showed a little illustrated book, bought in Cornwall and found it had been printed in Australia by author Oswald Pryor. She shared a classic Pryor cartoon pic. and caption that brought a smile. Janine Halls displayed a very large aged and well-worn frail Family Bible that linked back to her earlier family with one page of handwritten birth, deaths and marriages listed from 1779 to July 1877. Her mother had received the Bible from earlier family, listing mainly the Shrugg side of the family. Lindsay Chapman passed around a boxed medal memento from Pete Goss, for the support he had given representing the CAV on the organising committee for the ???Spirit of Mystery??? visit to Melbourne in March 2010 celebrating 150 years since the original miraculous and historic visit in 1854 of the Mystery with seven men from Newlyn to Williamstown, Victoria. He also displayed some jewellery from the South Crofty Mine, Frances Von Kalm showed two lovely copper etched plates, one with a Pisky, another with Long Ships Lighthouse and also a ceramic one with a painted lifeboat. Helen Morgan showed a Cornish Mug with ???Poldark-Handsome??? marked on it. Also brought home a Cornish Tea tin from Cornwall marked ???Smugglers Brew Blend??? full of tea bags. Helen so impressed she ordered a box later and received ?1100 tea bags which thankfully she is still enjoying.!! Website if interested is www.cornishtea.co.uk, Peter Datson showed a letter found in the Datson Family Bible from Elizabeth Datson (nee Wasley) in Baldhu, Cornwall to her second son, John Wasley Datson. Written in 1886 Peter called it, ???And she do open my Letters??? and the letter had poor punctuation and spelling. However from this letter he was able to trace his family members from across the world. Max Procter showed a pic of his GG Grandfather Nankervis, from Quay St, St Ives. originally from the Pendeen, St Just area in Cornwall and who had a ham and bacon factory at Gold Square, Bendigo. Felicity Sigmont showed a souvenir of the Shoalhaven Lighthouse made of Serpentine and mentioned there were some toxic minerals in Cornwall of which one needed to be aware. Janet Woolhouse Displayed a beautiful and colourful icon written by her brother in law Rev Rob Gallagher for her 80th birthday. Lyn Roberts showed a family watch that came from Cornwall. GG grandfather came from Cornwall in 1853. His younger son and brother came out in 1856 and his own wife and family came out from 1860 onwards. Ted and Beryl Curnow displayed a Cornish Flora Day Dance programme poster, a lighted Engine house lamp from Cripplesease and a replica brass and copper Davey Miner lamp with brief history and significance of the Miner???s lamp. A highlight to conclude the day was a beautifully framed picture of the Wheal Prosper Engine House that Brian Rollason had generously donated following his talk on Cornwall at a previous meeting. April 17th Helen Dwyer: Walking the Kokoda Track April is a month when Australian remember the the sacrifices of war and those who lost their lives as the Nation commemorates ANZAC Day on the 25th. Helen is a teacher in Gippsland who made the decision to walk in the footsteps of our soldiers who fought along the Kokoda Track across that Owen Stanley Ranges in Papua in 1942. She braved the oppressive and humid climate and the inhospitable tropical terrain and here is her story.
February 17th: Brian Rollason: Walks Along the Cornish Coast Brian was born in Falmouth Cornwall and has returned on occasion to walk the Cornish coastline. Here he takes us along with him.
This year the meeting was somewhat different to our normal end of year activity, as this time it was conducted via Zoom. Our President, Ken Peak, welcomed all CAV members including those from rural Victoria and interstate. An added bonus was some visitors from the Toronto Cornish Association and a visitor from Wisconsin USA. After we sang Trelawny and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Derek Trewarne had discovered an old film from 1916 recorded in Cornwall, called The Cornish Riviera which Ken showed - we could identify many of the places and it was fascinating to see the fishing boats in the harbours as well as the townsfolk going about their daily activities - the women in their long skirts, hats and white aprons and most of the men in hats and caps. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGoLkfITtuQ
More songs followed including Tom Bawcock???s Song -the history of Stargazy pie was related and included images of the Mousehole lights and Tom Bawcock???s Eve. A time of chatter finished a very pleasant afternoon. Covid19 Restriction in Victoria during 2020 greatly restricted the meeting opportunities of the CAV. That did not stop the regular publishing of the sixteen page Melbourne CAV Newsletters which can be found and read here. March 5th to 8th: Ballarat Cornish Festival The Festival began with the raising of the Cornish Flag in front of the Ballarat Town Hall on the Thursday Morning. Thirty-one participants assembled at Skipton Street Hall, on the morning of Friday 6th March, for a tour of Creswick. There was a short tour of Creswick and visits to cemetery then to the Creswick Museum was of interest to most and some people enjoyed sitting in the sun chatting and relaxing. On the Saturday in The South Gardens, opposite Lake Wendouree, was the 34th Australian Assembly of Bards of the Gorsedh Kernow with 21 Bard participating
Avenue of Memories was produced to mark the centenary of Ballarat???s Arch of Victory and Avenue of Honour The Sunday began with a Heritage Church Service at Skipton Street Uniting Church leb by Rev. Ted Curnow. In the afternoon Max Duthie gave us a short talk about the history of the Mt Pleasant area of Ballarat Read the full report on this festival in the Ballarat April 2020 Newsletter and view the Photo Galleries here February 15th: Peter Griffiths and his book "The Welsh on Victoria???s Central Goldfields" Peter related short biographies of a few Welsh-born men who made their mark on Victorian history. These included: Robert Lewis He arrived in Melbourne in August 1853. An early partnership with another Welshman, Evan Rowlands, in the production of aerated water varieties led to his rapid financial success. Lewis served as Councillor for the Municipality of Ballarat from 1859 and as Chairman in 1862. He was Mayor of the Borough of Ballarat West in 1863 and of the city of Ballarat in 1872-72 and 1880-81. In 1864 he was elected to the Victorian Parliament as member for Ballarat West. Isaac Daniel He arrived in Melbourne aboard the Miles Barton. Isaac worked as a miner at Chewton and Castlemaine and moved to Maldon in 1863. He joined the Welsh Independent Chapel and was able to preach in the Welsh language. Isaac became a shareholder of the South German Reef Tribute Company in 1879 and later Chairman of Directors.
Following emigration to Victoria in 1852, he preached at the (English) Baptist Church in Collins Street on Sunday afternoons. The first Welsh sermon in Melbourne was delivered by Davies in December 1852. From about 1858, Davies and his family lived in Pleasant Creek (Stawell) where he resumed his teaching career as Head Teacher at the Church of England School and was a lay preacher for the Anglican Church. Joseph Jenkins Joseph Jenkins arrived in Melbourne in December 1868 and he worked as an itinerant agricultural labourer for sixteen years. Later he worked for the Maldon Council as a street sweeper. He was also a regular attendee at the Annual St David???s Day Eisteddfod in Ballarat, wining prizes for the Englyn (a special form of Welsh verse) for thirteen years in succession. William Jones He arrived in Ballarat in the early 1860s, where he worked for a time with Rowland and Lewis, aerated water manufacturers, possibly due to his connection with Robert Lewis, who was from the same area in Wales. A friend gave him 200 mining shares (the donor being tired of paying ???calls???) which shortly after soared in price. Elated at his success, Jones began trading as a mining share broker in Ballarat. Jones was prominent in the racing industry, owning the 1889 Melbourne Cup winner, Bravo, and co-owning Newhaven, winner of the Victoria Derby and Melbourne Cup. Read the Full report of Peter Griffith's presentation in the Melbourne News Letter of May 2020 |
