Cornwall

Nearby places

Merther

Merther (Cornish: Eglosverther), is situated in the Deanery and Hundred of Powder. It is bounded on the north by Probus, on the west by Probus and Lamorran, on the south by St Michael Penkivel, and on the west by St Clement's Creek which separates it from the parish of St Clement and St Erme. The name means 'place claiming relics'. These relics may have belonged to St Coan, patron saint of the local church. It is a sparsely-populated parish bordering the Tresillian River and sandwiched between the parishes of Lamorran and St Clement. Merther starts at Tresillian bridge and follows the river north then goes due south to join the road to Tregony to include Carharthen, Tregerrick, Treveor, Namprathick, Fentongollan, Merther Lane and Tresawsen, Eglos Merther and Treffry.

The chief village in the parish is Merther Lane. In 1934, the parish was united with St Michael Penkivel and Lamorran for civil purposes.

Cemeteries

The Cornwall Family History Society have published Monumental Inscriptions for the Parish Church - 186 entries.

Census

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1901) is held in the Cornwall Record Office. The Cornwall Family History Society offers a census search service for its members. The Cornwall Family History Society have also published on-line census detail by surname on the FamilyHistoryonLine site.

Specific census information for this parish is available as follows:

• 1841.
  • The 1841 Census of Merther (HO107/148), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish 1841 Census, which is available in CD format.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of Merther (HO107/1909), Enumeration District 3, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • The New Zealand Society of Genealogists have compiled separate surname indexes of the 1851 Census for each Cornish registration district; Merther is listed in Volume 17. The booklets are available in Cornwall at the Cornwall Centre, (formerly known as the Cornish Studies Library), and is also available in the Cornwall FHS Library.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of Merther (RG9/1552), Enumeration District 6, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of Merther (RG10/2273), Enumeration District 6B, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of Merther (RG11/2306), Enumeration District 6, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of Merther (RG12/1826), Enumeration District 6, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.

Church History

• Anglican. The original parish church was located in OS Grid Square SW8644 and was dedicated to St Coanus. It was built around 1370, and comprised a chancel, nave and south aisle. The name Merther is believed to have been derived from 'martyr' but is generally used to mean a church in honour of a martyr. In this case it was St. Coan, a local saint, who had a well and chapel near the church. The church is in a very remote situation on the east side of the Tresillian river about two miles from Tresillian. Historically the church was a chapelry to the nearby village of Probus, but from the time of Henry VIII onwards there were often disputes about the rights of jurisdiction over the church. At one time it was held by a curate of Probus together with the nearby church at Cornelly. The parish was constituted a 'vicarage' in 1866. A 'bearded effigy', once in this church, is now at Tresillian (the building which replaced it). In the 20th century the church declined with the population. The main centre of population is now at Tresillian. The church was last used for regular worship in the mid-20th century, and is now an ivy-covered ruin.
  A separate church was built at Tresillian about 1878 to meet the demands of the population; this was rebuilt in its present style in 1904. The campanile is a well-known feature on the A390 road at the St. Austell end of Tresillian village. With the demise of Merther church, the church at Tresillian is now the de facto parish church.
  Details about the plans of the modern church are available on-line.
  The parish is now part of the Lamorran with Merther, Tresillian and St. Michael Penkivel Team Ministry.
• Non-Conformist. There was a Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Merther Lane.

Church Records

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for Merther are: C022841/2, M022842/3. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1658 - 1875.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1675 - 1903, Burials 1680 - 1992, Marriages 1690 - 1975, Boyd's Marriage Index 1608 - 1665, BTs 1608 - 1665.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials
• Baptisms.
  • Baptisms 1800 to 1901 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published on CD, baptisms 1741 to 1840 for this parish.
• Banns. Banns 1825 to 1901 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
• Marriages.
  • Marriages 1813 to 1901 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1613 to 1837, which is available in CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
• Burials.
  • Burials 1800 to 1902 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1613 to 1837, which is available in CD or Book formats.

Civil Registration

The parish of Merther has been in the Truro Registration District continuously from 1st July 1837. There were sub-districts at Kea, Kenwyn, Probus, St. Agnes, St. Clement and St Just-in-Roseland, but these have now been abolished. Parishes in this registration district are: Cornelly, Cuby, Feock, Gerrans, Kea, Kenwyn, Ladock, Lamorran, Merther, Perranzabuloe, Philleigh, Probus, Ruan Lanihorne, St. Agnes, St. Allen, St. Anthony in Roseland, St. Clement, St. Erme, St. Feock, St. Just in Roseland, St. Michael Penkevil, Tregavethan, Tregony St. James, Truro St. Mary, Veryan.

The address of the Registration Office is: Dalvenie House, New County Hall, Truro, TR1 3AY.
Tel: 01872 322241.

Description & Travel

• ePodunk's Cornwall page - providing general, plus some historical and genealogical information, about Cornwall and its parishes, together with links (mainly relating to general sites and services, rather than ones that are specific to Cornwall or particular parishes).
• Photographs of Merther are available.

Genealogy

OPC Assistance. The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a service to help family historians; the OPC page for this parish is available on-line, from where the OPC can be contacted by email.

Maps

• Map of the Truro Registration District in which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of Merther in the 19th century is also available.

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

Merther parish was part of the Truro Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

Population

The parish of Merther was transferred to St Michael Penkivel for civil purposes in 1934. Population figures after that date are with that parish.

Population in 1801 - 305 persons Population in 1811 - 350 persons Population in 1821 - 370 persons Population in 1831 - 411 persons Population in 1841 - 408 persons Population in 1851 - 374 persons Population in 1861 - 384 persons

Population in 1871 - 300 persons Population in 1881 - 246 persons Population in 1891 - 223 persons Population in 1901 - 230 persons Population in 1911 - 215 persons Population in 1921 - 185 persons Population in 1931 - 136 persons

Statistics

The parish comprises 1804 acres of land.

Return to top of page

Are you lost in the GENUKI hierarchy or arrived here from a Search Engine?
If so, use the up-arrow(s) at the top of the page to go up the hierarchy.

Copyright and Disclaimer The information on the GENUKI (www.genuki.org.uk/) website must not be used for commercial purposes, and all specific restrictions concerning usage, copyright notices, etc., that are to be found on individual information pages within GENUKI must be strictly adhered to. Violation of these rules could gravely harm the cooperation that GENUKI is obtaining from many information providers, and hence threaten its whole future. Whilst we take every care to keep the information on our web pages accurate, we disclaim any warranty or representation, express or implied about its accuracy, completeness or appropriateness for a particular purpose. Thus, you assume full responsibility for its use, and you understand and agree that neither GENUKI as an organisation nor any of its maintainers or providers are responsible or liable for any claim, loss or damage as a consequence. GENUKI contains many hyperlinks and directives to sites developed by others. They are provided for your convenience only. We do not control nor guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of such sites, and in the event of a link to such a site being 'broken', or otherwise unavailable, our only recourse is to remove that link. Thank you for your cooperation. GENUKI is a registered trademark of the charitable trust GENUKI - see About GENUKI as an Organisation.