The CORNWALL and Allied Families in Whitchurch 1870 – 1900

During the latter part of the 19th century the population of Whitchurch grew from about 2,700 to nearly 5,000. Increasing employment prospects, particularly at the Melingriffith works, drew people from far and wide. I am descended from one of those families who made Whitchurch their new home.

George Anstice Cornwall was born in East Worlington, Devon in 1816. He was an agricultural labourer and “higgler” – an itinerant merchant. His job kept him on the move. For fifty years he roamed Devon.

In the early 1830s he married Rebecca Collard whose parents lived in Bampton, Devon. George and Rebecca’s first child, Susan, was born in Bampton in 1836. The births of their subsequent children give some indication of the family’s meandering.

Mary was born in Chipstable, Somerset in 1839; Ann in Templeton, Devon in 1840; Sarah in Stockleigh in 1845; Emily in Templeton in 1846; their only son Benjamin George in Templeton 1850; Dinah in Clayhanger in 1853; Rebecca in Bampton in 1855 and Jane in Bampton in 1857. Both Ann and Jane died in infancy.

If the Cornwall family had to declare a hometown during those years it would probably have been Bampton. Apart from the fact that it was home to Rebecca’s parents, five of the Cornwall daughters married in the Bampton / Tiverton area.

Susan Cornwall married Henry Stone in 1855.

Mary Cornwall married Richard Hole in 1857.

Sarah Cornwall married William Webber in 1865.

Emily Cornwall married James Webber on July 1st 1866 in Bampton. They were my maternal great grandparents.

Dinah Cornwall married John Davey in 1870. By this time George and Rebecca had moved to Oakford.

These were the family’s final few years in Devon. The migration of the entire extended family to Whitchurch was about to begin.

In 1870 my great grandparents James and Emily (nee Cornwall) Webber, with sons Charles and James, left Bampton and settled in Primrose Hill, Whitchurch (which I believe was close to Llandaff railway station).

My great grandmother Emily Webber (nee Cornwall) born in Bampton, Devon in 1846.

The Webbers were not alone. Emily’s brother Benjamin George Cornwall, and Emily’s two brothers-in-law John Davey (husband of Dinah) and Richard Hole (husband of Mary) were lodgers. Furthermore, Emily’s sister Sarah and her husband William Webber lived a few doors away. Although James Webber and William Webber both came from Bampton there is no evidence that they were directly related. All of the men were labourers.

These first members of the extended family were obviously satisfied with their new situations. Within the next ten years the exodus of the family from Bampton was complete.

John Davey and Richard Hole sent for their families.

George Cornwall and Rebecca decided to make one last move.

The only remaining single Cornwall, daughter Rebecca, married Edwin Young and settled in Whitchurch in 1872.

In March 1875 Benjamin Cornwall married Hannah Reed of Oakford.

John Collard (Rebecca’s brother) and Edward Collard (Rebecca’s nephew) were enticed from Bampton, as was James Webber’s brother Edward who married Richard and Mary Hole’s daughter.

All of these families were living at the Heath, Whitchurch in 1881. Henry Stone and Susan (nee Cornwall) were living in Philog Terrace, while William Webber’s family had moved from Primrose Hill to Tynypark.

All of the men folk found employment as labourers in agriculture, brickyards, timber yards and a “patent fuel works” (which was probably a coking plant).

Two families moved elsewhere in the 1880s. My great grandparents James and Emily Webber moved to Barry. James was still a labourer, and may have been attracted by the demand for docks workers loading coal. Emily’s brother Benjamin Cornwall and his family moved to Court Road, Canton.

Inevitably there were some deaths of key family members before the end of the century.

George and Rebecca died in April 1897 and March 1894 respectively. Rebecca’s brother John Collard died in September 1883. Henry Stone, husband of Susan, died in March 1891, and Mary Hole died in November 1895.

The other Cornwall allied families continued to live in Whitchurch. In 1891 the Holes were living in Philog Terrace; the Daveys in Long Row; and the Youngs and Edward Collard lived at the Heath.

Meanwhile there was a gradual change in occupations. For example, Susan Stone had a grocery shop at the Heath, and William and Sarah Webber ran a similar business in Caerphilly Road.

Furthermore my great grandfather James Webber had opened a shop in Holton Road, Barry by the turn of the century. My grandfather Alfred Webber also spent a lifetime working his own greengrocery business.

My grandfather Alfred Webber and his sisters Mabel and Gladys. All were born in Whitchurch in the 1880s.

Although my grandparents left Whitchurch in about 1889 part of the family returned. My parents set up home there in 1945, and I spent my early years living in Westfield Road. During my time in Whitchurch I was unaware of the family history and its extent. There must have been times when I met people in the village, and not realized they were “family”. Hopefully there are some descendants of the allied Cornwall families who still live in Whitchurch. If so I would be delighted to hear from you.

Russ Davies email: rdavies@cctc.net website: www.russdavies.net

Members of the Cornwall and allied families who lived in Whitchurch 1870 – 1900

NAME		BIRTH	PLACE	DEATH	PLACE	NOTES
George Cornwall	H	1813	Devon	1897	Whitchurch
Rebecca Cornwall	W	1813	Devon	1894	Whitchurch
Henry Stone	H	1831	Wilts.	1891	Whitchurch	Married Susan 1855
Susan Stone	W	1836	Bampton	1903	Whitchurch	Dau. of George & Rebecca
Joseph Benjamin Stone	S	1857	Bampton
Joseph Henry Stone	S	1863	Bampton	1914	Whitchurch
Emily Jane Stone	D	1865	Bampton
Eliza Anne Stone	D	1867	Bampton
Dinah Stone	D	1869	Bampton
Willie Stone	S	1870	Bampton
Harry Stone	S	1872	Bampton
Frank Stone	S	1874	Bampton			Married Eva Tucker 1899
Charles Stone	S	1876	Bampton	1930	Whitchurch
Lucy Ellen Stone	D	1877	Bampton			Married Christopher Hill
Albert Stone	S	1879	Bampton			Married Phoebe Porter 1898
Frederick Stone	S	1882	Whitchurch
Richard Hole	H	1837	Somerset	1925	Cardiff	Married Mary 1857
Mary Hole	W	1839	Somerset	1895	Whitchurch	Dau. of George & Rebecca
William Hole	S	1858	Bampton			Married Eliza Hill 1880
Annie Hole	D	1862	Devon
George Hole	S	1863	Devon
Thomas Hole	S	1865	Bampton			Married Mary H. King 1898
Richard Hole	S	1866	Bampton			Married Millicent Roper 1893
Emily Hole	D	1867	Bampton
Ellen Rebecca Hole	D	1872	Whitchurch
John Hole	S	1875	Whitchurch
Blanche Hole	D	1877	Whitchurch
Robert Hole	S	1878	Whitchurch
William Webber	H	1844	Bampton	1925	Whitchurch	Married Sarah 1865
Sarah Webber	W	1845	Devon	1911	Whitchurch	Dau. of George & Rebecca
William Webber	S	1866	Devon
Lucy Webber	D	1868	Devon
Francis Webber	S	1870	Devon	1905	Whitchurch
Robert Webber	S	1871	Devon
Walter Webber	S	1872	Whitchurch
Lewis Webber	S	1875	Whitchurch			Married Sarah Buckler 1900
John Webber	S	1877	Whitchurch
James Webber	S	1878	Whitchurch
Charles Webber	S	1879	Whitchurch
Harry Webber	S	1881	Whitchurch
Albert Webber	S	1884	Whitchurch
James Webber	H	1840	Bampton
Emily Webber	W	1846	Devon	1930	Barry	Dau. of George & Rebecca
Ellen Louisa Webber	D	1866	Bampton			Married W.J.Lewis 1891
Charles Henry Webber	S	1868	Bampton			Married Sarah Taylor 1891
James Webber	S	1870	Bampton
Benjamin John Webber	S	1873	Whitchurch	1874	Whitchurch
Polly Jane Webber	D	1875	Whitchurch
Elizabeth Emily Webber	D	1877	Whitchurch			Married John Gibson 1897
Edward John Webber	S	1878	Whitchurch	1972	USA
Mabel Webber	D	1879	Whitchurch
Alfred Webber	S	1884	Whitchurch	1962	Barry	Married Ann James 1909
Gladys Webber	D	1888	Whitchurch			Married C.Buckland 1911
Walter Webber	S	1889	Whitchurch
Benjamin George Cornwall	H	1850	Devon	1929	Cardiff	Son of George & Rebecca
Hannah Cornwall (nee Reed)	W	1855	Devon	1930	Cardiff	Married Benjamin 1875
Mary Rebecca Cornwall	D	1877	Whitchurch
Rebecca Cornwall	D	1879	Whitchurch
Thomas Cornwall	S	1880	Whitchurch	1917	Cardiff
John Davey	H	1849	Bampton	1910	Whitchurch	Married Dinah 1870
Dinah Davey	W	1853	Devon	1914	Whitchurch	Dau. of George & Rebecca
Albert John Davey	S	1871	Devon	1908	Whitchurch
Mary Ann Davey	D	1873	Whitchurch			Married James Jenkins 1897
William Henry Davey	S	1875	Whitchurch
Rebecca Collard Davey	D	1878	Whitchurch			Married John Moore 1898
John Thomas Davey	S	1881	Whitchurch
Nellie Davey	D	1883	Whitchurch
Benjamin Davey	S	1889	Whitchurch
Dinah Davey	D	1894	Whitchurch
Edwin Young	H	1848	Devon	1916	Whitchurch	Married Rebecca 1872
Rebecca Collard Young	W	1855	Bampton	1923	Whitchurch	Dau. of George & Rebecca
Arthur Young	S	1874	Whitchurch
Alma Maud Young	D	1875	Whitchurch
Benjamin Joseph Young	S	1878	Whitchurch
Edwin Young	S	1879	Whitchurch
Walter Young	S	1883	Whitchurch
Edith Young	D	1885	Whitchurch
Lily Young	D	1886	Whitchurch
William George Young	S	1889	Whitchurch
Frederick Young	S	1891	Whitchurch
Ethel Young	D	1900	Whitchurch	1918	Llanharran
John Collard	H	1816	Somerset	1883	Whitchurch	Rebecca Cornwall's brother
Charlotte Collard	W	1822	Somerset	1891	Whitchurch
Benjamin Collard	S	1855	Bampton	1899	Whitchurch
Samuel Collard	S	1859	Bampton
Eliza Jane Collard	D	1869	Devon			Married George Bennett 1891
Edward John Collard	H	1852	Bampton	1928	Whitchurch	Rebecca Cornwall's nephew
Emily Collard	W	1852	Bampton
Elizabeth Collard	D	1879	Whitchurch	1884	Whitchurch
Annie Collard	D	1880	Whitchurch
Rosa J. Collard	D	1884	Whitchurch
Edward J. Collard	S	1887	Whitchurch			Whitchurch War Memorial
Charles J. Collard	S	1889	Whitchurch
Beatrice Emily Collard	D	1890	Whitchurch
Joseph H. Collard	S	1893	Whitchurch
William E. Collard	S	1897	Whitchurch			Whitchurch War Memorial
Reginald W. Collard	S	1899	Whitchurch			Whitchurch War Memorial
Edward Webber	H	1856	Bampton			James Webber's brother
Mary Jane Webber	W	1860	Bampton			Dau of Richard & Mary Hole
Beatrice Ann Webber	D	1879	Whitchurch	1883	Whitchurch
Elizabeth Jane Webber	D	1880	Whitchurch
Edward G. Webber	S	1885	Whitchurch	1892	Roath

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