Cornish Gents

[Ayashi]

Hi all

I've come across a few gents in the family, mainly the CORY/FRENCH/BURGOYNE/PEARSE and probably PENWARDEN families in and around Jacobstow/Poundstock in the late 1600s to mid 1700s.

I've also got a BEARD/GLANVILL side around Tavistock in the mid 1700s where the prefix "Mr" starts to appear on certain documents, although I don't think any were actually referred to as gents in what little I've found of them.

I've found some probates for the first lot of the family that I'll have to follow up at some point, but I was wondering if anyone knew if there were any records specifically relating to gentlemen in this context?

Thanks
Ayashi

[KGarrad]

The term "gentleman" can also refer to "gentlemen of the road"?!

There is no "official" definition of Gentleman.

[Ayashi]

Thanks

Not heard of that one before but I'm fairly sure in this case that's not what they meant, unless the consistent use of "Mr" and "Mrs" as prefixes also signalled something similar at the time.

Oh well, I was hoping that for once my family might be slightly more than common as muck and have paperwork to prove it. I'm sure the wills will be interesting, provided they didn't all do what my 2xgt grandfather did and just wrote "I leave all my worldly goods to my children, share and share alike"...

[philipsearching]

I am not aware of records relating specifically to gentlemen apart from Burke's Landed Gentry (I haven't used it, so I don't know how useful it is)

The Cornwall online parish clerks website could be a source of information.
http://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/
In addition to parish register transcripts there are a range of "Extra Searches" - such as land records, muster rolls, hearth tax and others.  You may be lucky and find your gentlemen there.

Other useful sites could be
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/ which is a treasure trove for anyone with plenty of patience!
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org - if any of your ancestors were MPs there are many mini-biographies

Good hunting
Philip

[Ayashi]

Well, I can certainly thank you for one thing right off the bat- I've been using Cornwall OPC for baptisms, marriages and burials but completely missed the entire other section on land records etc so I suppose that might well keep me busy for quite some time!

Thanks
Ayashi

[osprey]

the use of Mr or Mrs like that usually signifies that they were of some standing in the parish, not necessarily a gentleman in the case of the men. You may come across the marriage of a woman styled Mrs when she isn't a widow.

Have you looked at the CRO online index to see if they have documents mentioning your names? There may well be leases and other legal documents.

http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/DServe/searchpage.htm
 

[Ayashi]

The marriages and christenings of most of them specify "gent" for one or both parents of the CORY etc lot. I did find that Prudence nee BURGOYNE did own at least one house as mentioned on Cornwall OPC. As for the second lot, perhaps he was just a man of good standing, which is still nice to know.

I'll have a look at the link.

Thanks

[GrahamSimons]

If you can find a copy of Collectanea Cornubiensia  by George Boase published 1890, you might get some information or some ideas. I have a photocopy of a couple of pages - it's much in the mould of Burke's Landed Gentry. And the pages I have are certainly erroneous - as always it's a good idea to cross-check sources.

[Ayashi]

Thank you