Cornish Miners at Callao Mine in Callao, Peru

[frisbel]

My ancestor was at this mine 1874 thru 1880.  By chance anyone else know anything about this mine. Mostly Cornish and British .

[barryd]

The best of all Miners from Great Britain.

An article about Cornish miners working in South America

https://projects.exeter.ac.uk/cornishlatin/Creating%20the%20Cult%20of%20Cousin%20Jack.pdf

[Erato]

Are you sure the mine was located in Callao, Perú?  Callao, Perú is a port city and, as far as I know, has no significant mining activity.  Could it have been the Callao gold mine located in Estado Bolívar, Venezuela?


http://www.rootschat.com/links/01m8e/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Callao_Municipality

[frisbel]

Your reply sounds promising, My great grandfather George P Oates died there in 1880.  He went there from the USA.   He was a Cornish mining superintendent.  Also he was someway connected with Nuevo Hansa Mg. Co.  I am locating little information for the time frame he was there which was 1874 until his death in 1880.  Was hoping to locate a burial site.   I have no idea how he got there, can't locate him on any ship's list leaving the USA.  Even though he married a US citizen, he was always a British subject. 

[frisbel]

Checked my records and it was the Callao Gold Mine

[Erato]

https://earlylatinamerica.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/the-search-for-gold-in-venezuela-1875/
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01m8f/
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01m8h/
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01m8g/
http://www.scielo.org.ve/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1315-94962014000200010
http://www.estudioshistoricos.inah.gob.mx/revistaHistorias/wp-content/uploads/historias_70_85-98.pdf
http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/content/25/1-2/336
http://schuitemaberend.blogspot.com/2012/12/american-mining-engineers-in-kimberley.html

[Erato]

Oates family in North Carolina:

http://www.greensboro.com/news/exploring-the-whitworth-family-papers/article_9162cc72-6213-5054-abe5-6a439b362a1f.html

http://www.greensboro.com/news/papers-reveal-history-of-oates-family/article_74b8764a-0a0a-5283-ba4c-e1a78118d063.html

[frisbel]

Yes, North Carolina.  After 25 years of researching, the whole story just does not sit well with me.  No ships list with him leaving or coming back to US is really strange for the time frame.  Also since he was a British Subject and the mines were mostly controlled by the British Investors, his death should have been recorded in the British Consulate records.   I realize Cornish Miners were geared to be away from family for long periods of time (which I feel was his choice) but he married into a very wealthy family.  I don't wealth was his motivation, maybe he just suffered from wonderlust.   Hopefully one day more old documents for the Gold Mine's early history will show up.  George along with most other cornish miners kept journals. 

[Erato]

Cemeteries in Venezuela have not fared well during the past two decades.  The English Cemetery in Aroa and the Foreigners/British Cemetery in Caracas are both in northern Venezuela, far from the Callao mine.  The cemetery in Ciudad Bolívar where Oates might well have been buried has also been abandoned and vandalized.

http://minasdearoa.blogspot.com/2010/05/cementerio-de-los-ingleses.html
https://iamvenezuela.com/2016/03/cementerio-de-los-ingleses/
https://iamvenezuela.com/2017/08/el-monte-y-el-olvido-matan-el-cementerio-historico-de-ciudad-bolivar/