Kindly help me or direct me where I can confirm the following, which at the moment is a theory until you or someone else can confirm it for me: It seems that my great-great grandfather Samuel Roberts came from a town called Mithian Downs, Saint Agnes, Cornwall, United Kingdom. This is how I figured it out...
Known facts are:
1. Samuel Roberts (1841 - 01 May 1915) was born in England and died in Knysna, South Africa.
2. His year of birth (1841) was confirmed by both his death certificate and his marriage certificate (Married in Knysna on 20 September 1867 at the age of 26)... both these South African documents are in my possession (The two documents do not give the month and date of birth... only 1841).
An emigrant ship, the Eclipse, arrived in Cape Town on 27 November 1849 from England. On board was William Roberts, his wife and 5 children. (
http://www.sagenealogy.co.za/Eclipse.htm).
In the 1841 UK census I found:
Piece: HO107/149/2 Place: Pydar -Cornwall Enumeration District: 8
Civil Parish: St. Agnes Ecclesiastical Parish: -
Folio: 49 Page: 6
Address: Mithian Downs
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Surname First name(s) Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks
ROBERTS William M 35 Copper Miner Cornwall
ROBERTS Mary F 30 Cornwall
ROBERTS Louisa F 8 Cornwall
ROBERTS William M 6 Cornwall
ROBERTS James M 5 Cornwall
ROBERTS Samuel M 5m Cornwall
In this UK census (1841) Samuel is 5 months old, meaning that he was about 8 years old in 1849 when he arrived in South Africa with his parents, sister and brothers and it corresponds with 26 years old when he got married in 1867 and it also corresponds with his year of birth 1841.
I’ve checked the 1851 UK census and unless I've made a mistake the same family does not appear in it... confirming my theory that they left the UK in 1849 for South Africa.
Five children arrived in South Africa, but the 1841 UK census shows only 4 children... Samuel being the youngest at 5 months old. I suspect that between 1841 (UK census) and 1849 (arrival in SA) another child was born after Samuel. Interesting to note that Samuel’s father was a copper miner. Even this corresponds if I am looking for a reason why they came to SA... and the answer is possibly in Wikipedia “Historically tin mining was important in the Cornish economy, becoming increasingly significant during the High Middle Ages and expanding greatly during the 19th century when rich copper mines were also in production. In the mid-19th century, however, the tin and copper mines entered a period of decline.” (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwall)
Please help me to proof beyond any doubt that this is (or is not) our Roberts ancestors. (My mother is Jacoba Klomp born Roberts, and passed away on 24 August 2014 aged 78). Kind regards and many thanks.
Johan Visser
Pretoria
South Africa
