Cornwall

Nearby places

Morvah

The parish of Morvah, (Cornish: Morvedh), is situated in the Deanery and Hundred of Penwith. It is bounded on the north by the sea and Zennor, on the east by Madron, on the south by Madron and St Just, and on the west by St Just/Pendeen and the sea. One interpretation of the parish name is sea-grave, and it is believed a saint's grave was once revered here. This parish is located on the north coast of the south-west 'toe' of Cornwall, between Zennor and Pendeen. Amongst spectactular scenery there is an abundance of prehistoric archaeological sites. Chun castle was a habited fort with surviving hut circles and stone walls. Other sites of interest are Chun Quoit, Lanyon Quoit and Gurnards Head Promontory Fort, which is one mile north of Porthmeor.

Villages in the parish are the Churchtown, Tregaminion, Trevowan, Trevean.

Cemeteries

• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line Monumental Inscriptions for the Parish Church - 194 entries.
• War Memorial inscriptions for Morvah parish are separately available.
• Photographs of many of the gravestones from Morvah are on-line courtesy of Steve Beazley.

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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 Morvah (HO107/143), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • The 1841 Census of Morvah, (Enumeration District 1) is also on-line from West Penwith Resources.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of Morvah (HO107/1919), Enumeration District 1, 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; Morvah is listed in Volume 29. 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 Morvah (RG9/1596), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of Morvah (RG10/2343), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of Morvah (RG11/2349), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of Morvah (RG12/1860), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1901. The 1901 Census of Morvah (RG13/2256), Enumeration District 1, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.

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Church History

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SW4035; it is now dedicated to St Bridget & Morwetha. It was dedicated on 7th April 1409 to St Morwetha. It was originally a daughter church of Madron (the two parishes were originally known as Morvah-with-Madron, and has been united with Madron ever since): it is a plain square structure of no pretention whatsoever. It was rebuilt in 1828, the Incorporated Society granting £250, for which 292 addtional free sittings were claimed. The east window is of ornamented glass. There is a western gallery, a south porch and a north door. An ancient pew which had borne the the arms of 'Lanyon', and which had the initials " W.L. 1539" unfortunately has been destroyed. The tower is of two stages, and is finished with battlements and pinnacles; it contains three bells.
  Details about the plans of the modern church are available on-line.
• Non-Conformist. There was a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in the Churchtown; this was opened in 1810. There also used to be a Bible Christian chapel in the parish but this was altered to become a Board school before 1883.

Photographs of the church and chapel in Morvah are available.

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Church Records

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for Morvah are: C021931/2, C052921, M021932, M052921. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1650 - 1875; it is NOT believed to be fully included in the LDS Church's International Genealogical Index (IGI).
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1650 - 1874, Burials 1655 - 1991, Marriages 1617 - 1993, Boyd's Marriage Index 1614 - 1772, BTs 1614 - 1673. For 1772-1812, see Madron.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • Pre 1813 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials.
• Baptisms.
  • Baptisms 1840 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 1653 to 1845 for this parish.
  • Cornwall Legacy have published on CD, baptisms (1839 to 1900) of the Penzance Bible Christian Circuit. The Circuit covers Penzance, Sancreed, St Just, Madron, Gulval, St Hilary, Ludgvan, Paul, Sennen, St Buryan, Zennor, Towednack and Morvah.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, records of the St Just Bible Christian Circuit. These comprise baptisms (1860 to 1900). The areas covers St Just, Sancreed, St Buryan, Madron, Sennen and Morvah.
• Marriages.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1617 to 1837, which is available in CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Phillimore's marriages 1617 to 1772, and parish marriages 1837 to 1901, for this parish are available on-line through the OPC Search Facility - (C-PROP).
• Burials.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Burials 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book format.
  • Burials 1813 to 1910 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC Search Facility - (C-PROP).
• Mixed Records.
  • Some Baptisms, Marriages and Burials of Morvah are available on-line.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, records of the St Just Wesleyan Circuit. These comprise baptisms (1856 to 1900), Wesleyan Chapel burials (1849-1900), Trewellard Wesleyan Chapel Baptisms 1894 to 1900. The areas cover St Just, St Leven, Sancreed, St Buryan, Madron, Morvah, Botallack and Paul.

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Civil Registration

The parish of Morvah has been in the Penzance Registration District continuously from 1st July 1837. There were originally sub-districts at Marazion, Penzance, St Buryan, St Just, St Ives and Uny-Lelant but these have now been abolished. Parishes within the district are: Gulval, Ludgvan, Madron, Marazion, Morvah, Penzance, Perranuthnoe, St. Buryan, St. Erth, St. Hilary, St. Ives, St. Just in Penwith, St. Levan, St. Michael's Mount, St. Paul, Sancreed, Sennen, Towednack, Uny-Lelant, Wolfe Rock Lighthouse, and Zennor. The Superintendant Registrar can be contacted at: Alphington House, Alverton Place, Penzance, TR18 4JJ. Tel: 01736 330093.

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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 Morvah are available.

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Directories

• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1856 covering Morvah.
• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1873 covering Morvah.
• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1883 covering Morvah.
• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1893 covering Morvah.

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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.
  • The OPC for Morvah has provided a genealogical website for the parish.
• The West Penwith Resources have also produced a website for Morvah to help family historians.

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Maps

• Map of the Penzance Registration District in which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of Morvah in the 19th century is also available.
• A map showing Morvah in the context of its neighbours is available.

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

Morvah parish was part of the Penzance Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

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Population

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Probate Records

• A Probate Index for Morvah, Cornwall 1664 - 1771 is available on-line.
• Wills and Administration Abstracts for Morvah between 1660 -1856, are also available on-line.

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Religion and Religious Life

In the May of 1641 it was agreed and ordered that every Member of the House of Commons and House of Lords should make a protestation (declaration of loyalty) to the crown. The Protestation was printed and then distributed by the Members to their counties. The Protestation was to be made by everyone and the Rectors, Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor, had to appear before the Justices of the Peace in their Hundred to make their protestation and, on returning to their parishes, any two of them were to witness the taking of the Protestation Oath by all males over the age of 18 years. All names were listed and anyone who refused was to be noted.

The Protestation Returns of 1642 for Morvah are available on-line.

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Statistics

The parish comprised 1270 acres of land, one acre of water and 14 acres of foreshore.

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Taxation

Entries from the Hearth Tax 1662 - 1664 for Morvah are availble on-line.

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