Little Gillies - Storybook

ILLUSTRATION OF TIN STREAMING - 1556 (GEORGE AGRICOLA, ‘DE RE METALLICA’, BOSTON LIBRARY)

Sitting on the rugged moorlands of Luxulyan Parish in Cornwall is the charming stone cottage known as Little Gillies. Once two semi-detached, four-room dwellings housing local tin streamers, its history is deeply entwined with the families who made their living from this land working long hours for little reward in the stream that still flows today at the bottom of the garden.

THE GILLEY WORK

While tin mining was a major industry in the nearby Luxulyan Valley in the 18th and 19th centuries, the ancient work of tin streaming on the moors uncovered additional tin from the stream bed, employing a process used in Cornwall since the Bronze Age. Tinners washed the tin ore from the surrounding rocks and gravel, which was collected and processed further to extract the tin.

The work of a tin streamer was physically demanding, often beginning before sunrise and finishing after sunset. Tinners were paid according to the amount of tin they were able to extract, so they had to work quickly and efficiently to make a living.

The first record of tin streaming on the land surrounding Little Gillies was provided by Thomas Cock, in his will of 1794. Thomas bequeathed to his son Thomas ‘all my tinstream work called and known by the name of Conse Moor work in the said Parish of Luxulyan’. But the first mention of Gillies itself came in the will of Stephen Cock of Roche (who may have been related to Thomas), who died on 19 March 1799, aged 82.

Stephen left his son John ‘all my right I have in that tin stream work called by the name of the Gilley work’. He also gave him a house with land, a moor north of Tregoss, and a share in the Besillick tin stream. He left his grandson Stephen ‘my little mare and my bed furnished that I now sleep on all to be his so soon as he arrive to the age of fourteen years’. There is no mention of the Little Gillies cottages yet, although the first cottage was believed to have been built around this time and the second by the early 1800s — most likely by John Cock.

A burial record of a Thomas Wallis on 7 April 1822, aged 62, shows that he lived at Gillys — although whether Higher or Lower (as Little Gillies was generally referred to until more recently) is not known.

In 1831, John Cock ‘tinner, of Roche’, died aged 79. It’s likely that he passed on the Little Gillies cottages and land to his children.

A further burial record of 19 February 1835 showed that Edward Coad, who died aged 18, also lived at Gillys, although, again, whether this was Higher or Lower Gillies isn’t known.

The tithe map of 1839 shows that Little Gillies was covered by three plots (from which Higher Gillies was separate), which included two dwelling houses, gardens and an arable field. All plots were owned by John Cock, likely to be Stephen Cock’s grandchild (and the son of John Cock, who probably built the cottages and passed them on to John Junior).

The cottage closest to the road was occupied by William Udy, whose plot also included land over the road.

William was a stream miner aged around 21 when living at Gillies, his wife Mary Ann was around 19, and they had two small children, Elizabeth Ann and Jane. The cottage next door was occupied by John Udy, who also rented the arable field alongside.

By 1841, Joseph Coad, 60, an agricultural labourer, lived in one of the Little Gillies cottages with his wife, Darcus, 50, their children, Joseph Coad, 10, and Christiana, 7, and Darcus’ mother, Darcus Hocken, 85. The other cottage was uninhabited. Christiana may have been the same ‘Christiana Code’ admitted to Bodmin Asylum in 1850 and again in 1853, where she died aged 19.

THE STONEMANS OF LITTLE GILLIES

In 1851, William Stoneman, a 36-year-old stream miner, lived in one of the four-roomed Little Gillies cottages with eleven others, including his wife Elizabeth, 36, and his children Catherine, 14; Mary Jane, 6; Emblyn, 5; Jenepher, 3; Thomas, 1; John a widower and stream miner, 38, and his sons Thomas, 8, and Simon, 5, and two lodgers, William Cock, 43, a stream miner and Elizabeth Ann, 11, his daughter. Due to the small income provided by tin streaming, it was common for large families to live together in small houses.

Another family of Stonemans occupied the second cottage John (the father of John next door), a 63-yearold stream miner, lived with his wife Catherine, 63, and their grandchild, Elizabeth Ann, 3.

Voter’s lists for Luxulyan from 1856 show that Walter Hooper, of Nanstallon, Bodmin, now owned ‘Conce and Gillis’, under freehold tenure, and parish rate books from 1860 show that John Stoneman Junior and John Stoneman Senior occupied each of the Gillys cottages, which were still owned by Hooper, at an estimated rental value of £3 and £2, respectively.

By 1861, Census records confirm that William Stoneman and his family had left Little Gillies, and John Stoneman (Junior), now 48 and still a tin stream miner, lived in one of the cottages with Jenifer Keam, 27, his housekeeper; his two children with his late wife, Thomas, 18, and Simon, 15, both tin stream miners; and his two illegitimate children with Jenifer John, 2, and Richard, 11 months. Under the law at that time, cohabitation outside of marriage was considered immoral and could be punished by imprisonment or fines. It’s not known why John and Jenifer didn’t get married; however, it has been suggested that it may have been more socially acceptable in some rural areas. John Stoneman (Senior), now 74 and still a tin stream miner, still lived in the other cottage with his granddaughter, Elizabeth, 13.

In 1864, the Stonemans witnessed an incident involving an out-of-control horse and cart near the cottages on 10 June, and a newspaper report covering the story referred to William Stoneman of Gillies as ‘Capt. Wm. Stoneman, captain and agent of the stream works at Conce Moor’. The Census of 1871 confirmed that William Stoneman, now 55, had returned to Little Gillies with his family, possibly because John Stoneman Senior had died. William lived with his wife Elizabeth, 55, and four of their younger children, Thomas, 21; John, 17; and William, 15, all tin streamers; and Martha, 11.

John Stoneman (Junior), now 57 and still a tin streamer, still lived in one of the cottages with Jenifer Keam

and their three illegitimate children, John, 12, and Richard, 10, both tin streamers, and daughter, Catherine, 4.

On Tuesday, 28 November 1871, Walter Cock, of Luxulyan, 13, ‘a boy having a very respectable appearance’, was bought up in custody on the charge of stabbing William Stoneman (William Stoneman’s son, of the Gillies, aged 15) ‘with intent to do him grievous bodily harm’.

Jenefer Keam died on 18 December that year at Gillys of typhoid fever, and John Stoneman was present at her death. There were 17,639 deaths due to typhoid fever in England and Wales in 1871; it was common disease in areas where sanitation was poor and contaminated water was widespread, and continued to be a significant public health problem in England until the early 20th century.

FROM TIN TO CLAY

Tin streaming had begun to decline by the late 19th century, particularly after the discovery of rich copper deposits in other parts of the world, which made it less profitable to mine tin. The proportion of streamers in Luxulyan parish collapsed from nearly 20% in 1861 to just 2% in 1891. At the same time, the demand for china clay was increasing, and mining companies in Cornwall began to shift their focus towards china clay production. Clay labourers accounted for just 1% of Luxulyan’s workers in 1851 but comprised 18% by 1881.

By 1881, Thomas Stoneman, 31, a china clay labourer and one of John Stoneman’s children with his first wife, moved back to Little Gillies with his wife Emma Jane, 28, also a china clay labourer, and their five children, James, 10; Alfred, 8; Elizabeth Jane, 7; Charles, 3; and Bessie, 1; and Thomas’ half brother, Richard Keam, 21, also a china clay labourer.

In the other cottage now lived John Merrifield, 37, also a china clay labourer, with his wife Mary, 39, also a china clay labourer, and their children, Annie, 8, and John, 6.

By 1891, the Dockings had replaced the last Stonemans at Little Gillies. William Docking, 23, another clay labourer, lived with his wife, Emma, 22, and their daughter Elizabeth Ann, aged 7 months. The Merrifields remained next door Mary was now 48 and a widow and lived with her children, Annie, 18; John, 16; and Guy, 7.

After the Local Government Act of 1888, Mary Merryfield was eligible to vote in local elections as a woman with property with a rateable value of over £5. She was therefore listed in the Electoral Register of 1897 as a farmer at Gillies and also in the local directory.

By 1901, Marwood Toms, 29, another clay labourer, occupied the cottage furthest from the road. He lived with his wife Rebekah, 30, and their children, Nellie, 6; Preston, 5; Harry, 3; Minnie, 1; and his father, Josiah, 76, a blind widower in receipt of parish rates, and their niece, Blanche, 14. William M Sturtridge, 36, a clay labourer, occupied the cottage on the road side with his wife, Mabel Sturtridge, 28, and their children Preston, 2 and Nora, 3 months.

Between 1881, when the previous OS map was surveyed, and the next OS map in 1906, the occupiers of the

roadside cottage had added a ground-floor extension to the back of the cottage, which can be seen on the 1906 map.

The 1910 national valuation survey showed that John Merrifield now occupied the roadside cottage, which was owned by John G Hooper (Walter’s son) of Tremabyn in Lanivet. John paid £4 quarterly rent, and his plot included a pigsty and an outdoor lavatory on the land over the road.

John Hooper also owned the adjoining cottage occupied by Marwood Toms, the surrounding fields, and also Higher Gillies and the surrounding land. In 1911, Marwood Toms and his family still lived in the cottage furthest from the road. Marwood was 39 and listed as a farm labourer. He still lived with his wife Rebekah, 40, and their children, Harry, 13; Minnie, 11; Raymond, 9; Leslie, 8; Leonard, 6; Emily, 3; and Louie, 1. John Merrifield, 65, a sand merchant, lived in the roadside cottage with his wife Catherine, 61, and their daughter Ethel May, 19.

On 14 June 1918, the Cornish Guardian reported that ‘news has recently been received by the parents of Sergt. Preston Toms, of Gillies, Lanivet, Worcester Regt late of the D.C.L.I. that he is a prisoner of war in Germany. Sergt. Toms some time ago won the D.C.M. for bravery in the field. Mr and Mrs Toms lost a son, Pte. Harry Toms, D.C.L.I, of fever in a hospital in England shortly after the outbreak of war.’ Preston was later safely released to return home.

In August that year, it was reported that ‘a wedding of much interest took place at the Luxulyan Parish Church, when Mr. Frank Brenton Julian, son of the late Mr.and Mrs. Joseph Julian, of Levrean, Bugle, was married to Miss Millie (Minnie) Toms, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marwood Toms, of Gillies, near Bugle.’

‘VERY DESIRABLE FREEHOLD PROPERTY FOR SALE’

The cottages were auctioned at the Royal Hotel in Bodmin on Saturday, 14 June 1919, at 4.30 pm. The lot included ‘All those Two Freehold Cottages and Gardens and Two Small Meadows, at Gillies, Luxulyan, occupied by Messrs. Merrifield and Marwood Toms, at a total annual rent of £9 10s. The cottages each contain 4 Rooms and have nice gardens attached, and the meadows are about an acre in extent.’

On 19 August, Sarah Ann Hooper (widow of John Grose Hooper, who died on the 21 October 1918) sold the lot to Samuel Udy of Conce for £155, and on 7 November, Udy sold it again to Marwood and Preston Toms.

On 16 September that year, Raymond Toms, 18, of Gillies, was charged with attacking Ethel May Hooper, 16, of Rosevath, Luxulyan, on Sunday, 7 September. On her way back from Sunday School, he accosted her in the road leading to Lockengate with the remark, ‘How do you do, Miss Hooper?’ and they had a brief conversation about the pony in the field adjoining. Afterwards, the accused led her into the field and committed the act complained of. He promised to give her something next time he saw her if she would not tell anyone. She identified her torn clothing (produced), stating that when she left for Sunday School, her clothing was clean and sound, and she had bruising on her arm and the back of her head, consistent with her story. The accused told the bench he had no desire to say anything and had no witness to call.

On Wednesday, 29 October, labourer Raymond Toms, 18, was imprisoned for 18 months for attacking Ethel.

‘Toms pleaded guilty, and Mr Justice Darling, in passing sentence of eighteen months’ hard labour, said there was no possible excuse for what the prisoner had done. Had he been an older man, he would have sent him to penal servitude.’

TWO BECOME ONE

By 1921, the Toms, having bought both cottages in 1919, had knocked through to create one six-room house, as we see it today. Marwood, now 49, was a general labourer for Cornwall County Council, his wife Rebekah was 50, and they lived with ten of their children and grandchildren, Preston, 25, a clay labourer; Raymond, 20, also a general labourer for Cornwall County Council; Leslie, 18, a general labourer at home; Emily, 14; Louie, 11; Ernest, 9; Adela, 9; William, 5; Minnie, 21; and Harold, 2.

The Toms still lived in Lower Gillies in 1939. Marwood, now 68, was a roadman, and Rebecca was 69. Living with them was their daughter Louie Avenell, 30; grandson Samuel Toms, 18, a labourer; son-in-law Arthur Champion, 35, a labourer; and daughter Minnie Champion, 40. There was also another person living with them whose record is redacted due to data protection laws.

Minnie Champion died later that year, and her funeral was held on Saturday, 2 December, at Lower Gillies. The newspaper report revealed that her brothers, Raymond and Leslie, were in Canada (where they had emigrated).

In 1940, Harold Toms, 21, ‘late of H.M.S. Nelson’, died in October. ‘His funeral took place from the home of his grandparents, Mr and Mrs Toms, at Lower Gillies, Bugle. The service was at Innis, where the Rev. H. Bentley officiated. The hymns, ‘Nearer my God to Thee’ and ‘Rock of Ages’, were sung.’

Marwood Toms died in 1957, aged 86 he no longer lived at the Gillies. His son, Ernest, 53, still lived at Lower Gillies in 1965, when he filed for divorce due to his wife Betty Doreen’s adultery.

In the cottage’s more recent history, Jon Oliver lived at Little Gillies with his parents as a teenager for three years in the 1980s, and Nigel Bourne owned it in the 1990s. In 2009, Philip Best and his wife Gaynor bought the cottage and stayed for twelve years before Elizabeth Toth and her husband, Phillip Gaywood, made Little Gillies their home in September 2021, marking the next chapter in this over 200-year-old story.

The Timeline

1700s

1794 The first record of tin streaming on the land surrounding Little Gillies by the Cock family. In Thomas Cock's will of 16 January, he bequeathed his son Thomas 'all my tinstream work called and known by the name of Conse Moor work in the said Parish of Luxulyan'.

1799 The first mention of Gillies in a will of 24 April by Stephen Cock of Roche, who died on 19 March 1799, aged 82. He left his son John Cock 'all my right I have in that tin stream work called by the name of the Gilley work'. There is no mention of the cottages yet, although the first cottage was believed to have been built around this time (and the second in the early 1800s) - most likely by John Cock.

1800s

1822 A burial record of 7 April shows a Thomas Wallis, who died aged 62 and lived at Gillys.

1831 John Cock (son of Stephen Cock) tinner, of Roche, died aged 79. It's likely that he passed on the Little Gillies cottages and land to his children.

1835 A burial record of 19 February shows an Edward Coad, who died aged 18 and lived at Gillys.

1839 The tithe map of 1839 shows that [Little] Gillies was covered by three plots, which included two dwelling houses, gardens and an arable field. All plots were owned by John Cock, likely to be Stephen Cock's grandchild (and the son of John Cock, who probably built the cottages).

The cottage closest to the road was occupied by William Udy, whose plot also included land over the road. William was a stream miner aged around 21 when living at Gillies, with his wife Mary Ann, 19, and their small children, Elizabeth Ann and Jane.

The cottage next door was occupied by John Udy, who also rented the arable field next to it.

1841 Joseph Coad, 60, an agricultural labourer, lived in one of the Little Gillies cottages with his wife, Darcus, 50, their children, Joseph Coad, 10, and Christiana, 7, and Darcus' mother, Darcus Hocken, 85. The other cottage was uninhabited.

1851 William Stoneman, a 36-year-old stream miner, lived in one of the Little Gillies cottages with nine members of his family, including his wife Elizabeth, 36, and his children Catherine, 14; Mary Jane, 6; Emblyn, 5; Jenepher, 3; Thomas, 1; John - a widower and stream miner, 38, and his sons Thomas, 8, and Simon, 5. And two lodgers, William Cock, 43, a stream miner and Elizabeth Ann, 11, his daughter.

Another family of Stonemans occupied the second cottage - John (the father of John next door), a 63-year-old stream miner, lived with his wife Catherine, 63, and their grandchild, Elizabeth Ann, 3.

1856 Voter's lists for Luxulyan show that Walter Hooper, of Nanstallon, Bodmin, now owned 'Conce and Gillis', under freehold tenure.

1860 Parish rate books show that John Stoneman Jun. and John Stoneman Sen. occupied Gillys cottages, which are still owned by Hooper, at an estimated rental value of £3 and £2, respectively.

Catherine Stoneman died at Gillies.

1861 The Census records confirmed that William Stoneman and his family had left Little Gillies, and John Stoneman (junior), now 48 and still a tin stream miner, lived in one of the cottages with Jenifer Keam, 27, his housekeeper, his two children with his late wife, Thomas, 18, and Simon, 15, both tin stream miners, and his two illegitimate children with Jenifer - John, 2, and Richard, 11 months.

John Stoneman (senior), now 74 and still a tin stream miner, still lived in the other cottage with his granddaughter, Elizabeth, 13.

1864 The Stonemans of the Gillies were witnesses to an incident involving an out-of-control horse and cart near the house on 10 June.

1871 John Stoneman (junior), now 57 and still a tin streamer, still lived in one of the cottages with Jenifer Keam and their three illegitimate children, John, 12, and Richard, 10, both tin streamers, and daughter, Catherine, 4.

William Stoneman, now 55, had returned to the other Little Gillies cottage with his family, possibly because John Stoneman Sn. had died. William lived with his wife Elizabeth, 55, and four of their younger children, Thomas, 21; John, 17; and William, 15, all tin streamers; and Martha, 11.

On Tuesday, 28 November, Walter Cock, of Luxulyan, 13, was bought up in custody on the charge of stabbing William Stoneman [William Stoneman's son, of the Gillies, aged 15].

Jenefer Keam died on 18 December at Gillys of Typhoid fever, and John Stoneman was present at her death.

1881 Thomas Stoneman, 31, a china clay labourer, one of John Stoneman's children with his first wife, moved back to Little Gillies with his wife Emma Jane, 28, also a china clay labourer, and their five children, James, 10; Alfred, 8; Elizabeth Jane, 7; Charles Stoneman, 3; and Bessie, 1; and Thomas' half brother, Richard Keam, 21, also a china clay labourer.

In the other cottage now lived John Merrifield, 37, a china clay labourer, with his wife Mary, 39, also a china clay labourer, and their children, Annie, 8, and John, 6.

1891 The Dockings replaced the last Stonemans at Little Gillies. William, 23, another clay labourer, lived with his wife, Emma, 22, and their daughter Elizabeth Ann (7 months).

The Merrifields remained next door - Mary was now 48 and a widow and lived with her children, Annie, 18; John, 16; and Guy, 7.

1897 Mary Merryfield was eligible to vote in local elections as a woman with property with a rateable value of over £5, and she was listed in the Electoral Register of 1897 as a farmer at Gillies and also in the local directory.

1900s

1901 Marwood Toms, 29, another clay labourer, now occupied the cottage furthest from the road. He lived with his wife Rebekah, 30, and their children, Nellie, 6; Preston, 5; Harry, 3; Minnie, 1; and his father, Josiah, 76, who was a blind widower in receipt of parish rates, and their niece, Blanche, 14.

In the cottage on the road side lived William M Sturtridge, 36, a clay labourer, with his wife Mabel Sturtridge, 28, and their children Preston, 2 and Nora, 3 months.

1910 The 1910 national valuation survey showed that John Merrifield now occupied the roadside cottage, which was now owned by John G Hooper (Walter's son). John paid £4 quarterly rent. The cottage had four rooms, with a pigsty and an outdoor lavatory on the land over the road.

John Hooper also owned the adjoining cottage occupied by Marwood Toms, the surrounding fields, and also Higher Gillies and the surrounding land.

1911 Marwood Toms and his family still lived in the cottage furthest from the road. Marwood was 39 and listed as a farm labourer. He still lived with his wife Rebekah, 40, and their children, Harry, 13; Minnie, 11; Raymond, 9; Leslie, 8; Leonard, 6; Emily, 3; and Louie, 1.

John Merrifield, 65, a sand merchant, lived in the roadside cottage with his wife Catherine, 61, and their daughter Ethel May, 19.

1918 On 14 June, the Cornish Guardian reported that Preston Toms, son of Marwood and Rebecca of the Gillies, was taken as a POW in Germany.

The wedding of Millie (Minnie) Toms, eldest daughter of Marwood and Rebecca, took place at the Gillies in August.

1919 The Lower Gillies cottages were auctioned at the Royal Hotel in Bodmin on Saturday, 14 June, at 4.30 pm. The lot included 'two cottages and gardens, and two small meadows, at Gillies, Luxulyan'.

On 19 August, Sarah Ann Hooper (widow of John Grose Hooper, who died on the 21 October 1918) sold to Samuel Udy of Conce for £155, ‘All those two messuages or dwellinghouses and gardens and two small meadows situate at Gillies in the said parish of Luxulyan, now in the occupation of Merrifield and Marwood Toms’.

On 7 November, Samuel Udy sold the whole Gillies plot to Marwood Toms and Preston Toms.

On 16 September, Raymond Toms, 18, of Gillies, was charged with attacking Ethel May Hooper, 16, of Rosevath, Luxulyan on Sunday, 7 September. On 29 October, he was imprisoned for 18 months after pleading guilty.

1921 The Toms, having bought both cottages in 1919, knocked through to create one six-room house. Marwood, now 49, was a general labourer for Cornwall County Council, his wife Rebekah was 50, and they lived with ten of their children and grandchildren, Preston, 25, a clay labourer; Raymond, 20, also a general labourer for Cornwall County Council; Leslie, 18, a general labourer at home; Emily, 14; Louie, 11; Ernest, 9; Adela, 9; William, 5, Minnie, 21 and Harold, 2.

1939 The Toms still lived in Lower Gillies. Marwood, now 68, was a roadman, and Rebecca was 69. Living with them was their daughter Louie Avenell, 30; grandson Samuel Toms, 18, a labourer; son-in-law Arthur Champion, 35, a labourer; and daughter Minnie Champion, 40.

Minnie Champion died later that year and her funeral was held on Saturday, 2nd December, at Lower [Little] Gillies. The newspaper report revealed that her brothers, Raymond and Leslie, were in Canada (where they had emigrated).

1940 Harold Toms, 21, 'late of H.M.S. Nelson', died in October. 'His funeral took place from the home of his grandparents, Mr and Mrs Toms, at Lower Gillies, Bugle.'

1957 Marwood Toms died, aged 86 - he no longer lived at the Gillies.

1965 Ernest Toms, 53, lived at Lower Gillies, where he filed for divorce due to his wife Betty Doreen's adultery.

1980s Jon Oliver lived at Little Gillies with his parents as a teenager for three years.

1996 Nigel Bourne lived at Little Gillies from at least this year.

2000s

2009 Philip Best and his wife, Gaynor, moved to Little Gillies and stayed for twelve years.

2021 Elizabeth Toth and her husband, Philip Gaywood, bought Little Gillies on 29 September.

Method, Sources and Findings

The sources and findings below were used to construct the timeline and write the story of your house. You’ll also find additional stories, details, context and analysis and further research suggestions. Findings are organised by source type (corresponding to the folders of images in your digital file) and in the digital copy of your storybook you can click on individual sources to see either the source origin. Some sources may be behind a paywall, but all images of original records viewed have been added to your digital file. A selection of images of documents are included at the end of the storybook - but there is much more to see in your file.

Sources highlighted in grey are suggestions for further research. There are extensive manorial records for Luxulyan at Kresen Kernow; however, the record summaries contain little information on the properties referenced in each record, therefore further research is likely to be speculative and time-consuming. However, if done methodically, it may be possible to find further information regarding the cottages and the land they stand on.

MAPS

OS MapLittle Gillies, Conce Moor

1887 Available online at National Library of Scotland (maps.nls.uk)

OS Map - 25 inchCornwall XXXIV.13

- Surveyed: 1880,

Published: 1881 (digital image of original map)

OS MapLittle Gillies, Conce Moor

1888 Available online at National Library of Scotland (maps.nls.uk)

OS Map - 25inchCornwall Sheet XXXIV.

SW - Surveyed 1881.

Published 1888 (digital image of original map)

(All OS maps in Map folder)

[Search: any available maps of the area - online and in archives]

OS MapLittle Gillies, Conce Moor

1907 Available online at National Library of Scotland (maps.nls.uk)

OS Map - 25 inchCornwall XXXIV.13 -

Revised: 1906, Published: 1907(digital image of original map)

OS MapLittle Gillies, Conce Moor

1908 Available online at National Library of Scotland (maps.nls.uk)

OS Map - 25 inchCornwall XXXIV.13 -

Revised: 1906, Published: 1908 (digital image of original map)

[Note: Between 1881, when the previous map was surveyed, and 1906, the occupiers of the cottage nearest to the road (hereafter referred to as the roadside cottage) had added a ground-floor extension to the back (now the utility), which can be seen on the map (although slightly outsized). We know from the Valuation Survey that the roadside cottage was occupied by the Merrifields at that time, and was previously occupied by the Sturtridges.]

VALUATION SURVEY

Valuation

Survey Map - showing Little Gillies

1910 The National Archives (TNA)

IR 128/5/401 : OS Sheet

Reference: Cornwall XXXIV 13

(author's image of original record)

Valuation Survey

Field Book:

Luxulyan Assessment

No. 201-300

1910 TNA

Ref: IR 58/71866

Plots 224 - Little Gillies (author’s image of original record)

(Images in Map folder)

Reveals that the cottages are within Luxulyan Income Tax Parish/ Hereditament 224 (see below for Field Book).

(Images in Valuation Survey folder)

Plot No. 224: Gillies - cottage, garden & premises (the roadside cottage)

Extent: 23per (perches)

Gross value: £2 -5sh / Rateable value: £1-10sh

Occupier: John Merrifield

Owner: John G Hooper - Tremabyn, Lanivet, Bodmin

Interest of owner: Freehold

Occupier’s tenancy: quarterly

Rent: £4

Description: Cottage and garden. 1 room & back kitchen / (upstairs) 2 rooms. over road pigsty & lavatory.

Gross value: £60

[Writer’s note: The notes in red on the pg1 image confirm that John Hooper also owned plot 275: the off-road Gillies cottage and adjoining fields, occupied at the time by Marwood Toms.]

TITHE MAP & APPORTIONMENT

Tithe Map & ApportionmentLittle Gillies, Conce Moor

1839 Available online: The Genealogist website

(Original data: TNA

Ref:

Tithe file: IR 18/448

Tithe apportionment: IR 29/6/113)

(digital image of original record)

(Images in Tithe Map & Apportionment folder)

Plots 539, 540 and 541 come under ‘Gillies’ (meaning ‘Little Gillies; ‘Higher Gillies’ is a separate group of plots), including two dwelling houses and gardens and an arable field.

All plots are owned by John Cock.

The first house (closest to the road) is on plot 539 of an area of 27 perches and is occupied by William Udy (the larger area is due to his garden which is bigger and is over the road).

The second house is on plot 540, which is an area of 10 perches and is occupied by John Udy (who also occupies the arable field, plot 541).

Little Gillies surrounded by plots 504, 537 and 538.

Plot 504:

Owner: John Whitford

Occupier: John Whitford

Description of Land: Undivided Commons, Conce and Trevellion Moor

Plots 538 & 533: the fields over the road, between little and higher Gillies, are owned by Henry Udy and occupied by Jonathan Wellington.

Plots 537, 536, 535 & 534: are the four fields on the same side as Gillies, directly opposite the other plots above, and are owned by Henry Udy and occupied by John Udy.

ELECTORAL REGISTER S

1856/7

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

Electors' lists for Cornwall, 1856/7, transcribed online at opc-cornwall.org from microfilm images online at familysearch.org (LDS Film No. 1471723, 1990).

Original data: Cornwall Record Office, Truro

(digital image of original record)

(all images in Electoral Registers folder)

[Search: Electoral Registers in Cornwall Online Parish Clerk database, ancestry.com and findmypast.co.uk for any Little Gillies’ occupants/owners].

‘Walter HOOPER of Nanstallon, Bodmin Freehold Conce and Gillis’

[Walter is shown in the parish rate books of 1860 and 1861 as the owner of Lower Gillies house and land (see record details in Parish Rate Books below and in image file].

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

1897 England & Wales, Electoral Registers 18321932, ‘Luxulyan, Cornwall, 1897’, Image number: 204, available online: findmypast.co.uk. Original data: The British Library, ref: SPR.Mic.P.60/BL.C.40 (digital image of original record)

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

Electoral registers, Luxulyan

1922 As above.

Gillies - Mary Merryfield

Gillies - Marwood, Rebecca and Preston Toms

1923 As above.

Gillies - Marwood, Rebecca, Preston and Raymond Toms

1924 As above.

Gillies - Marwood, Rebecca, John Leslie and Raymond Toms

1925 As above.

Gillies - Marwood, Rebecca, John Leslie and Raymond Toms

1926 As above.

Gillies - Marwood, Rebecca, John Leslie, Leonard and Raymond Toms

1927 As above.

Gillies - Marwood and Rebecca Toms

1928 As above.

Gillies - Marwood and Rebecca Toms

1930 As above.

Gillies - Marwood, Rebecca, Emily and Minnie Toms

1931 As above.

Gillies - Marwood, Rebecca, Emily, Minnie and Louie Gwendoline Toms

DIRECTORIES

Post Office

Directory of Cornwall, 1897

1897 Post Office Directory of Cornwall, 1897 - Page 194, Kelly, available online: specialcollections.

le.ac.uk. Original data: University of Leicester, Special Collections: Historical Directories of England & Wales

(digital image of original record)

Post Office

Directory of Cornwall, 1902

1902 Post Office Directory of Cornwall, 1902 - Page 200, Kelly, available online: specialcollections.

le.ac.uk. Original data: University of Leicester, Special Collections: Historical Directories of England & Wales

(digital image of original record)

(all images in Directories folder)

[Search: In ‘University of Leicester - Special Collections Online’ directories for any Little Gillies occupants].

Luxulyan (Luxulion) pg194: shows Mary Merryfield at Lower Gillies as a farmer.

PARISH RATE BOOKS

Parish Rate Book -

Luxulyanimage no.275

1860 Poor law records, 17161863

Available online: familysearch.org

Salt Lake City, Utah

: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1989

Original data:Cornwall County Record Office, Truro.

(digital image of microfilm copy of original record)

Luxulyan (Luxulion) pg200: shows Marwood Toms at Lower Gillies as a farmer (and John Harris at Gillies - confirming theory from the Census records that Harris was at what is now Higher Gillies).

(all images in Parish Rate Books folder)

[Search: Family Search Poor Law records for Luxulyan for Gillies owners and occupants].

Occupier: Stoneman, John Jun. and Stoneman, John Sen.

Owner: Hooper

Property: Gillys

Gross Estimated Rental: £3 and £2

Rateable Value: £2 and £1

LAND & PROPERTY

[Search: We know that the cottages were freehold from at least 1857 (in the Parish Rate Book record) so searches were for title deeds, plus any earlier manorial records to try to trace if and when it may have been previously part of manorial land].

DEEDS

Conveyance, Lower Gillies, Luxulyan

1919 Kresen Kernow

Ref: MY/1/38/1

(author’s image of original deed)

(image in Land & Property folder)

A conveyance made on Wednesday, 19 August 1919 between vendor Sarah Ann Hooper (widow of John Grose Hooper, who died 21 October 1918) and purchaser Samuel Udy of Conce, for £155, ‘All those two messuages or dwellinghouses and gardens and two small meadows situate at Gillies in the said parish of Luxulyan, now in the occupation of ‘Merrifield and Marwood Toms’ - coloured pink on the attached plan.

Samuel also purchased Sarah Ann’s 71 shares in Higher Gillies. The deed also refers to an earlier Indenture dated 14 February 1853 between Walter Hooper and Isaac and Samuel Grigg - it isn’t clear whether this previous deed included both Little Gillies and Higher Gillies.

A typed note on the back of the conveyance states:

‘By a Conveyance dated the 7th day of November 1919 made between the within named Samuel Udy of the one part and Marwood Toms and Preston Toms of the other part the two messuages or dwellinghouses and gardens and two small meadows situate at Gillies in the Parish of Luxulyan (being the property coloured pink on the plan drawn on the within written Conveyance) was conveyed unto the said Marwood Toms and Preston Toms in fee simple and an acknowledgment given for production of the within written Deed.’

MANORIAL RECORDS

[Search: There were originally two manors covering Luxulyan; Bodwitgie, which included Menedew, Chenethro, Cross, Bodwen and Lockengate was the largest, Trevillyn, much smaller. The manors of Rescoll, Luxulyan, Prideaux and Gready came later. As manorial land was divided between several different manors, records are scattered across many different collections in the archives, making it tricky to trace prior ownership.]

Luxulyan and Bodwithgie manors, Luxulyan parish -map

Schedules of deeds and leases, Luxulyan manor

Surveys, Luxulyan manor and scattered lands

Survey of Gready Manor, Luxulyan

1695 Kresen Kernow

Ref: FS/2/32/3/20

(format: original records)

17001900 Kresen Kernow

Ref: R/3972

(format: original records)

17501820 Kresen Kernow

Ref: R/4226/17,18

(format: original records)

1650 TNA

Ref: E317/corn/16

(original record)

Rashleigh Collection - Luxulyan Manor

1700s & 1800s

(See images in Land & Property folder) Gillies land lay just outside of Bodwithgie manor.

Gillies land/property not included.

CENSUS

Kresen Kernow

Ref: Over 250 records and collections relating to Luxulyan, including R1278

- R1485

(format: original records)

Gillies land/property not included.

FURTHER RESEARCH: May include transfer of Gillies land.

FURTHER RESEARCH:

The Rashleigh family owned Luxulyan Manor in the 1600s-1800s. It's possible that at some point, the land on which Gillies now stands was part of Luxulyan manor. This collection includes around 250 records and collections of deeds and leases related to Luxulyan, so further methodical research through these records may reveal further information.

(all Census images in Census folder)

[Search: Cross-referencing the census returns for ‘Gillies’ with the returns for named houses before and after, notes surviving on enumerator routes and old and current maps to find locations of surrounding named houses allowed me to confirm the occupants of the two cottages now named ‘Little Gillies’ (vs. those for Higher Gillies, as they were often just all named ‘Gillys’). The census route was usually taken from east to west, but in 1841 and 1851 it was taken west to east - Newgate is to the west (currently Newgate bungalow), then Gillies, then Conce Moor and Barguse south (now Barguse riding centre)].

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841

1841 available online: ancestry. co.uk. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: HO107; Piece: 145; Book: 7; Civil Parish: Luxulyan; County: Cornwall; Enumeration District: 13; Folio: 46; Page: 13; GSU roll: 241267

(digital image of original record)

Lower Gillies:

Joseph Coad (60) - Ag. Lab. [agricultural labourer]

Darcus Coad (50)

Joseph Coad (10)

Christiana Coad (7)

Darcus Hocken (85) - Ind. [of independent means]

The adjoining cottage was uninhabited.

[Christiana Coad - may have been the same Christiana Code admitted to Bodmin Asylum in 1850 and again in 1853, where she died. A burial record in 1853 shows her age as 19 - the same as our Christiana.

Route is west to east - which makes sense as it is Higher then Lower Gillies). Before Gillies is Newgate, and they are followed by Conce Round.]

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851

1851 available online: ancestry. com. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: HO107; Piece: 1904; Civil Parish: Luxulyan; County: Cornwall; Enumeration District: 4D; Folio: 192; Page: 8&9 (digital image of original record)

Gillys (Little Gillies - see route notes):

Wm [William] Stoneman, Head (36) - stream miner

Elizth [Elizabeth] Stoneman, Wife (36)

Catherine Thos [Thomas] Stoneman, Dau[ghter] (14)

Mary Jane Stoneman, Dau[ghter] (6)

Emblyn Stoneman, Dau[ghter] (5)

Jenepher Stoneman, Dau[ghter] (3)

Thomas Stoneman, Son (1)

Wm [William] Cock, Lodger (43) - stream miner

Elizth [Elizabeth] Ann Cock, Lodger (11)

John Stoneman, Widow (48) - stream miner

Thos [Thomas] Stoneman, Son (8) - scholar

Simon Stoneman, Son (5) - scholar

Gillys (Little Gillies - see route notes):

John Stoneman, Head (63) - stream miner

Catherine Stoneman, Wife (63)

Elizth [Elizabeth] Ann Stoneman, Grandchild (3)

[Route is east to west - starts with Bargoes, followed by Newgate and Higher Woon.

Second John was also referred to as Head, should probably be 'Lodger'. His age is also an error - as he is shown as 48 in the 1851 census.]

Census

Returns of England and Wales, 1861

1861 available online: ancestry. com. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: Rg 9; Piece: 1533; Folio: 17; Page: 8; GSU roll: 542827 (digital image of original record)

1 Gillys (Little Gillies - see route notes):

John Stoneman, Head, Widow (74) - Tin stream miner

Elizabeth A Stoneman, Granddaughter (13)

2 Gillys (Little Gillies - see route notes):

John Stoneman, Head, Widow (48) - Tin stream miner

Jenifer Keam, Servant (27) - Housekeeper

Thos [Thomas] Stoneman, Son (18) - Tin stream miner

Simon Stoneman, Son (15) - Tin stream miner

John Keam, Illegitimate son (2)

Richard Keam, Illegitimate son (11 months)

3 Gillys (Higher Gillies - see route notes):

Ann Trevail, Head, Widower (71)

Reuben Trevail, Son (30) - Tin stream miner

[Route is east to west, as Gillies follow 7 Conce (after Marks and Bangoes) and are before Lockengate (tall gate).]

Census

Returns of England and Wales, 1871

1871 available online: ancestry. com. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: RG10; Piece: 2246; Folio: 18; Page: 6; GSU roll: 834876 (digital image of original record)

Gillys (Little Gillies - see route notes):

John Stoneman, Head, Widow (57) - Tin streamer

Jenifer Keam, Servant (31) - Domestic servant

John Keam, Illegitimate son (12) - Tin streamer

Richard Keam, Illegitimate son (10) - Tin streamer

Catherine Keam , Illegitimate daughter (4)

Gillys (Little Gillies - see route notes):

William Stoneman, Head (55) - Tin streamer

Elizabeth Stoneman, Wife (55)

Thomas Stoneman, Son (21) - Tin streamer

John Stoneman, Son (17) - Tin streamer

William Stoneman (15) - Tin streamer

Martha Stoneman (11) - Scholar

[Return of William and Elizabeth Stoneman who are seen in the 1851 census.]

Gillys (Higher Gillies - see route notes):

William H Retallick (37) and family

[Route is east to west again (Lower gillies then Higher).]

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881

1881 available online: ancestry. com. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: RG11; Piece: 2289; Folio: 20; Page: 5; GSU roll: 1341550

(digital image of original record)

Gilleys (Little Gillies - see route notes):

Thomas Stoneman, Head (31) - China Clay Labourer

Emma Jane Stoneman, Wife (28) - China Clay Labourer

James Stoneman, Son (10) - Scholar

Alfred Stoneman, Son (8) - Scholar

Elizabeth Jane Stoneman, Daughter (7) - Scholar

Charles Stoneman, Son (3)

Bessie Stoneman, Daughter (1)

Richard Keam, Lodger (21) - China Clay Labourer

Gilleys (Little Gillies - see route notes):

John Merrifield, Head (37) - China Clay Labourer

Mary Merrifield, Wife (39) - China Clay Labourer

Annie Merrifield, Daughter (8) - Scholar

John Merrifield, Son (6) - Scholar

Gilleys (Higher Gillies - see route notes):

Robert Grose, Head, Widow (53) - Tin stream labourer Bessie Ann Grose, Daughter (24) - Her Father's Housekeeper

[Route is east to west.

The shift from tin stream miners to china clay labourers reflects the shift in local industry.

Previous resident Richard Keam is now a lodger and his sister Martha is shown as a visitor at nearby Conce.]

Census

Returns of England and Wales, 1891

1891

available online: ancestry. com. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: RG12; Piece: 1814; Folio: 14; Page: 6; GSU roll: 6096924 (digital image of original record)

Gillies (Little Gillies - see route notes):

William John Docking, Head (23) - Clay labourer

Emma Jane Docking, Wife (22)

Elizabeth Ann Docking, Daughter (7 months)

Gillies (Little Gillies - see route notes):

Mary Merrifield, Head, Widow (48)

Annie Merrifield, Daughter (18)

John Merrifield (16) - Farm labourer

Guy Merrifield (7) - Scholar

[4 rooms shown for each cottage.]

Gillies (Higher Gillies - see route notes):

William Stacey, Head (41) and family (including Robert Grose, his father-inlaw, from previous census)

[Route appears to be east to west again and higher gillies is named, so the Dockings and Merrifields are in Little Gillies.]

Census

Returns of England and Wales, 1901

1901 available online: ancestry. com. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: RG13;

Piece: 2197; Folio: 58; Page: 2

(digital image of original record)

Gillies (Little Gillies - see route notes):

Marwood Toms, Head (29) - Clay labourer

Rebekah Toms, Wife (30)

Nellie Toms, Daughter (6)

Preston Toms, Son (5)

Harry Toms, Son (3)

Minnie Toms, Daughter (1)

Josiah Toms, Father, Widow (76) - blind, in receipt of parish rates

Blanche E. Toms, Niece (14)

Gillies (Little Gillies - see route notes):

William M Sturtridge, Head (36) - Clay labourer

Mabel Sturtridge, Wife (28)

Preston Sturtridge, Son (2)

Nora Sturtridge, Daughter (3 months)

Gillies (Higher Gillies - see route notes):

Henry Harris (48) and family

[Route is east to west again and no ref to Higher Gillies.]

Census

Returns of England and Wales, 1911

1911 available online: ancestry. com. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: RG14;

Piece: 13670; RG 78

piece: 806; Reg district: 293; Sub-district: 1; Enum district: 6; Sch: 35&36 (digital image of original record)

Gillies (Little Gillies - see route notes):

John Merrifield, Head (65) - Sand merchant

Catherine Merrifield, Wife (61)

Ethel May Merrifield, Daughter (19)

Gillies (Little Gillies - see route notes):

Marwood Toms, Head (39) - Farm labourer

Rebekah Toms, Wife (40)

Harry Toms, Son (13)

Minnie Toms, Daughter (11)

Raymond Toms, Son (9)

Leslie Toms, Son (8)

Leonard Toms, Son (6)

Emily Toms, Daughter (3)

Louie Toms, Son (1)

Gillies (Higher Gillies - see route notes):

Henry John Harris (59) and family

[Route is east to west again and no reference to Higher Gillies again.]

Census Returns of England and Wales, 1921

1921 available online: findmypast.. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: RG15; Piece: 10945; Reg district: 293; Sub-district: 1; Enum district: 7; Sch: 20 (digital image of original record)

Gillies (Little Gillies - see route notes):

Marwood Toms, Head (49) - General labourer (Cornwall County Council)

Rebekah Toms, Wife (50)

Preston Toms, Son (25) - Clay labourer

Raymond Toms, Son (20) - General labourer (Cornwall County Council)

Leslie Toms, Son (18) - General labourer (at home)

Emily Toms, Daughter (14)

Louie Toms, Son (11)- School

Ernest Toms, Son (9) - School

Adela Toms, Daughter (9) - School

William E Toms, Grandson (5) - School

Minnie Toms, Daughter (21) - Housekeeper

Harold Toms, Grandson (2)

[Now one cottage with 6 rooms - Marwood has knocked through.]

(image in Occupants folder)

SCHOOL RECORDS

List of Lockingate infant school pupils in Luxulyan

18801931

Lockingate Infant School Pupils Lists, 1880-1931, transcribed online at opc-cornwall.org from microfilm images online at familysearch.org (LDS Film No. 1471658 by Phil Rodda). Original data: Cornwall Record Office, Truro

(digital image of transcribed list)

Shows several children from Gillies.

NEWSPAPERS

Royal Cornwall Gazette, Friday 09

November

1860

1860 British Newspaper Archive

(digital image of original record)

(all images of newspaper reports in Newspapers folder)

[Death of Catherine Stoneman in 1860 at Gillies.]

Royal Cornwall GazetteFriday 05

August 1864

1864

British Newspaper Archive

(digital image of original record)

[The Stonemans of the Gillies are witnesses to an incident involving an outof-control horse and cart near the house on 10 June 1864.]

‘John Stoneman, a tin streamer, deposed that while at work on the 10th of June, 1863, at Conce moor, be heard the noise of a carriage coming very swiftly along the road. He left his work and walked towards the road, and he saw a horse and carriage in which were two gentlemen. They were going very swiftly, the horse galloping. One of the gentlemen was holding the reins with both bands, and the other had the whip, and he whipped the horse two or three times— it might have been worse ; certainly, he whipped it more than once, The horse went as fast as it could gallop across the moor. Just as the carriage passed he thought it would upset, and he ran up the burrow towards the road, and found that it had not done so, and that they were driving over the moor at the same speed.’

Capt. Wm. Stoneman, captain and agent of the stream works at Conce Moor, remembered the day of the accident, and gave corroborative evidence as to the rapid rate at which the horse was being driven on the outward journey. One of the gentlemen held the whip, and whipped the horse shamefully. After the accident, he said to Mr Daniel, ‘If he ran away, you had no right to whip him as you did; and it has served you right.’

The Cornish Telegraph, Wednesday, November 22, 1871

Western Morning News, Tuesday 28

November 1871

1871

British Newspaper Archive

(digital image of original record)

[Attack on William Stoneman of Gillis by local boy, Walter Cock. He was charged with 'cutting and wounding, with intent to do him grievous bodily harm'.]

1871

British Newspaper Archive

(digital image of original record)

‘On Tuesday 28 November, Walter Cock, of Luxulyan, 13, 'a boy having a very respectable appearance' was bought up in custody on the charge of stabbing William Stoneman, also a boy of Luxulyan’.

Cornish Guardian, Friday 14 June 1918

1918 British Newspaper Archive

(digital image of original record)

[Preston Toms, son of Marwood and Rebecca of the Gillies, taken as POW in Germany.]

‘On 14 June 1918, the Cornish Guardian reported that 'news has recently been received by the parents of Sergt. Preston Toms, of Gillies, Lanivet, Worcester Regt late of the D.C.L.I. that he is a prisoner of war in Germany. Sergt.Toms some time ago won the D.C.M. for bravery in the field. Mr. and Mrs, Toms lost a son, Pte. Harry Toms, D.C.L.I of fever in a hospital in England shortly after the outbreak of war.'

Cornish Guardian, Friday 09 August 1918

1918 British Newspaper Archive (digital image of original record)

[Wedding of Millie Toms, eldest daughter of Marwood and Rebecca at the Gillies.]

'A wedding of much interest took place at the Luxulyan Parish Church, when Mr. Frank Brenton Julian, son of the late Mr.and Mrs. Joseph Julian, of Levrean, Bugle, was married to Miss Millie Toms, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marwood Toms, of Gillies, near Bugle.'

Cornish Guardian, Friday 06 June 1919

1919 British Newspaper Archive

(digital image of original record)

Western Morning News, Saturday 07 June 1919

1919 British Newspaper Archive

(digital image of original record)

[Freehold sale of Little Gillies cottages and land.]

'All those Two Freehold Cottages and Gardens and Two Small Meadows, at Gillies, Luxulyan, occupied by Messrs. Merrifield and Marwood Toms, at a total annual rent of £9 10s, The cottages each contain 4 Rooms and have nice gardens attached, and the meadows are about an acre in extent.'

[Little Gillies sale by auction.]

The Lower Gillies cottages were put up for auction at the Royal Hotel. Bodmin on Saturday 14 June, 1919, at 4.30 p.m..The lot included a house on Conce and 'two cottages and gardens, and two small meadows, at Gillies, Luxulyan'.

Cornish Guardian, Friday 19 September

1919

1919 British Newspaper Archive

(digital image of original record)

[On Tuesday 16 September, Raymond Toms (18) of Gillies, Luxulyan, was charged with attacking Ethel May Hooper (16) of Rosevath, Luxulyan on Sunday 7 September.

On her way back from Sunday School, he accosted her in the road leading to Lockengate with the remark 'How do you do, Miss Hooper?'and they had a brief conversation about the pony in the field adjoining. Afterwards, the accused led her into the field and committed the act complained of. He promised to give her something next time he saw her if she would not tell anyone. She identified her torn clothing (produced) stating that when she left for Sunday School her clothing was clean and sound and she had bruising on her arm and the back of head consistent with her story. The accused told the bench he had no desire to say anything and had no witness to call.]

Cornish Guardian, Friday 31 October 1919

1919 British Newspaper Archive (digital image of original record)

Cornish Guardian, Thursday 07 December

1939

1939 British Newspaper Archive

(digital image of original record)

[On Wednesday, 29 October, labourer Raymond Toms (18) was imprisoned for 18 months for attacking Ethel May Hooper. 'Toms pleaded guilty and Mr Justice Darling, in passing sentence of eighteen months' hard labour, said there was no possible excuse for what the prisoner had done. Had he been an older man he would have sent him to penal servitude.']

[Funeral of Minnie Champion - daughter of the Toms of the Gillies - 1939]

‘The funeral of Mrs. Minnie Champion. of Rock, who died November 29th. aged 40 years. at the home of her parents. Mr. and Mrs. M. Toms. Lower Gillies. Bugle. took place on Saturday last at Innis. the Rev. H. Bentley officiating. The hymn. God be with you till we meet again."" was sung. Mourners were Mr. A. Champion, husband; Will and Sam, sons: Mr. M. Toms father: Nellie. Emily and Adela, sisters Preston. Leonard and Ernest. brothers Mesdames P. and L. Toms, sisters-in-law Messrs. Alec Scantlebury and Albert Vincent. brothers-in-law; Ada and Jack Julian. niece and nephew; Mrs. C. Andrew, Messrs. W. J. Merrifield. E. Merrifield, R. Merrifield. Misses Amy and Clara Warne, cousins; Mr. Joe Champion and Mrs. M. Telling, brothers-inlaw and sister in-law. Mrs. M. Toms (mother). Aunts Grace and Bertha. Mrs. Champion mother-inlaw) were unable to attend. also Raymond. Leslie, and Clara (brothers and sister-inlaw). who are in Canada. and Harold (son). and Arthur (brother-in-law), who are at sea. Bearers were Messrs. W. Chudley. C. Udy. J. Hancock, G. Sturtridge, H. Sturtridge and M. Cock.’

Cornish Guardian, Thursday 03 October 1940

1940 British Newspaper Archive (digital image of original record)

Cornish Guardian, Thursday 28 October 1965

1965 British Newspaper Archive (digital image of original record)

[Funeral of Harold Toms, grandson of the Toms of the Gillies - October 1940.]

'The funeral of Mr. Harold Toms aged 21 years late of H.M.S. Nelson, took place from the home of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs.Toms at Lower Gillies, Bugle. The service was at Innis. where the Rev. H. Bentley officiated. The hymns, ‘Nearer my God to Thee’ and ‘Rock of Ages’ were sung.'

[Ernest Toms, of Lower Gillies, filed for divorce due to wife Betty Doreen's adultery. Costs were charged against the co-respondent, Gerald Leslie Cousins.]

(any images are in the Occupants folder)

OCCUPANTS’ RECORDS

Will of Thomas Cock 1794 Available online: Family Search Original wills, administrations and inventories for the Consistorial Court of the Archdeaconry of Cornwall Image 674. Original data: Kresen Kernow

(digital image of microfilm copies)

Will of Stephen Cock

1799 As above. Image 907.

Will made 16 January 1794. Bequeathed his son Thomas 'all my tinstream work called and known by the name of Conse Moor work in the said Parish of Luxulyan'.

The Cocks owned a lot of land surrounding Gillies in the tithe app - this may be a different branch of the family.

Stephen Cock Ancestry Tree

Made 24 April 1798. Gave to his son John Cock 'all my right I have in that tin stream work called by the name of the Gilley work'. Also gave him a house and land and a moor north of Tregoss. Also a share in Besillick tins stream).

John has four sons, Stephen, John, Thomas & William, and his brother Stephen also has a son called Stephen (who he gave 'my little mare and my bed furnished that I now sleep on all to be his so soon as he arrive to the age of fourteen years'. Stephen also has sons called John and Thomas!

17171799 available online: ancestry. com [Note: Ancestry Family Trees are built by subscribers to ancestry.com, so it's important to double-check the sources as there are often errors, but they can be useful in providing links to new sources and avenues of research.]

Stephen Cock 1717–1799

BIRTH 1717 • Roche Cornwall England

DEATH 19 MAR 1799 • Roche Cornwall England

Stephen and Ann CockMarriage Certificate

1763 available online: ancestry. com (digital image of original record)

Stephen Cock - Burial 1799 available online: ancestry. com

(digital image of original record)

Stephen Cock married Ann Mellow in Roche on 17 August 1763.

Died aged 82 on 19 March 1799 - so he was born in 1717.

John Cock - Ancestry Tree

1831 available online: ancestry. com

John Cock 1752–1831

BIRTH 1752 • Roche Cornwall England DEATH 1831

Will of John Cock, tinner, of Roche

1831 Available online: Family Search Original wills, administrations and inventories for the Consistorial Court of the Archdeaconry of Cornwall Image 674.

Original data: Kresen Kernow (digital image of microfilm copies)

Thomas WallisBurial

1822

Findmypast transcription

‘Cornwall burials’

Archival reference: FP130

1/13

Entry number: 124

Edward Coad - Burial

1835

Findmypast transcription

‘Cornwall burials’

Archival reference: FP130

1/13

Entry number: 359 (online transcription)

Christiana CodeAdmission to Bodmin County

Lunatic Asylum

1851

Ancestry.co.uk.

Original data: Commissioners in Lunacy, 1845–1921. Lunacy

Patients Admission Registers, Series MH 94. The National Archives. (digital image of original register)

John Cock, son of Stephen Born in 1752 - died 1831 (age 79).

No details of his property, but he left everything to his daughter, Joanna Hicks. Lower Gillies may have been sold before John’s death, or Joanna may have sold the cottages to Walter Hooper.

Thomas Wallis

Age: 62

Birth: 1760

Death: 1822

Burial: 7 April 1822

Residence: Gillys

Edward Coad

Age: 18

Birth: 1817

Death: 1835

Burial: 19 Feb 1835

Residence: Gillys

Name: Christiana Code Record Type: Admission Admission Date: 21 May 1851

Christiana CodeReadmission to Bodmin County

Lunatic Asylum - and death

Christiana Code - Burial at Bodmin County

Lunatic Asylum

1853

Cornwall OPC Database

Original data: TNA (MH94/14) (online transcription of original record)

Institution Bodmin County Lunatic Asylum

Date Of Admission 21-May

Year Of Admission 1851

Register No 16732

Forename Christiana

Surname CODE

Personal Details Pauper

When Discharged 16-Feb-1853 - died, exhaustion

Jane Beswetherick, (née Jane Udy) - Census 1911

1853

Cornwall OPC Database

Original data: TNA (ref: unknown) (online transcription of original record)

1911 Jane Beswetherick, Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911, available online: ancestry. com. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: RG14; Piece: 13670; RG 78 piece: 806; Reg district: 293; Sub-district: 1; Enum district: 6; Sch: 68 (digital image of original return)

Jane Beswetherick, (née Jane Udy) - Census 1851

1851 Jane Udy, Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851, available online: ancestry.com.

Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England. Ref: Class: HO107; Piece: 1904; Civil Parish: Luxulyan; County: Cornwall; Enumeration District: 4D; Folio: 192; Page: 7

Day Month 20-Feb

Year 1853

Parish Circuit Bodmin

Forename Christiana

Surname CODE

Age 19

Residence Asylum (of Endellion)

The 1911 Census showed a Jane Beswetherick living at Trescoll who stated she was born at Gillies, Luxulyan.

The 1851 Census shows Jane Udy, aged 10, living at Conce Round with her family - iIncluding father, William Udy, making it very likely that this was the family living at Little Gillies in 1839 in the tithe apportionment record. Her father, William Udy was a stream miner who would have been 21/22 when living at Gillies, her mother Mary Ann would have been 19, and Jane's older sister Elizabeth Ann would have been 1 and Jane herself would have been a baby. The family had left Little Gillies by the times of the 1841 Census.

See above.

Walter HooperAncestry Tree

Jenefer KeamAncestry Tree

18311871 available online: ancestry. com Walter Grose Hooper Sr. 1798–1883

BIRTH 27 MAR 1798 • Luxulyan, Bodmin, Cornwall, England

DEATH 7 MAR 1883 • Lanivet, Bodmin, Cornwall, England

18311871 available online: ancestry. com Jenefer KEAM

1831–1871

BIRTH ABT. 1831 • Cawdle Downs, St Austell, Cornwall, England, DEATH 18

DEC 1871 • Gillis, Luxulyan, Cornwall, England

[This tree for Jenefer Keam tells us that she died in 1871, aged 35 and this is confirmed by the burial register and her death certificate (see details below), meaning there were errors in the 1861 Census (which gave her age as 27 when she was 25) and the 1871 Census (which gave her age as 31).]

Jenefer Keam - Burial register

1871

Jenefer Keam, 1871. ‘England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991’, database, available online: familysearch.org. Original data: Kresen Kernow, Luxullion parish register, pg 142 (microfilm image of original record)

Jenefer Keam - Death certificate

1871

gro.gov.uk

Name Jenefer Keam

Sex Female

Event Type Burial

Event Date 20 Dec 1871

Event Place Luxulyan, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom

William Morris SturtridgeFamily Tree

1900s available online: ancestry. com

Died: 18 Dec 1871 at Gillys Luxulyan

Name: Jenefer Keam

Age: 35

Profession: Housekeeper (donestic servant)

Cause of death: Typhoid Fever (certified)

Informant: John Stoneman, present at the death, Gillys Luxulyan

William Morris Sturtridge

1865–1943

BIRTH ABT. 1865 • Lanivet, Cornwall, England

DEATH 22 JAN 1943 • St Austell, Cornwall, England

William Morris Sturtridge, who lived at Little Gillies in the early 1900s.

Marwood TomsFamily Tree

1900s available online: ancestry. com This tree for Marwood Toms links to many of his children and has links to records showing that John Leslie and Raymond Toms later emigrated to Canada.

Preston Toms - Army Service Record, WW1

1918 Ancestry.co.uk - UK, British Army World War I Service Records, 19141920

Original data: TNAWO363 (microfilm copy of original record)

Nigel Bourne - Company Director record

Occupants and owners information in the late 1900s/2000s

1996 company-information. service.gov.uk

Preston Toms sent to Langensalza POW camp.

Shows Nigel’s company was registered at Little Gillies between 30 June 1996 and 31 December 1998.

1980s - 2021

Information from the client

Liz Toth provided information and dates for Little Gillies occupants, including Jon Oliver in the 1980s and Phillip and Gaynor Best from 2009-2021.

LOCAL HISTORY

A Short History of Luxulyan Parish by Dr. John Rowe

The parochial history of Cornwall, by Gilbert, Davies, 17671839

Luxulyan Parish History by Hazel Harradence

Luxulyan, Cornwall

Historical Description

1838

Available online at rootsweb.com

Added to Local History folder.

Available online at archive.org

Publisher: London : J. B. Nichols and son

Section on Luxulian.

available online: Luxulyan Parish Council website

Overview of Luxulyan Parish history.

available online: UK Genealogy Archives

Overview of Luxulyan Parish history.

Tin Streaming – Wendron’s Earliest Industry

‘Luxulyan: the death of a way of life’ by Bernard Deacon

available online: Cornish Mining World Heritage

Pdf saved in Local History folder.

2022 available online: Cornish studies resources: Cornwall: history, surnames and society, from Bernard Deacon

‘The number of tinners in Luxulyan dropped sharply in the 1850s, but this was more a result of a change in description than anything real. The shortfall was made up by ‘tinstream miner’ or ‘tinstream labourer’. Then in the 1860s, real change set in and the proportion of streamers in the parish collapsed from near 20 per cent in 1861 to just two per cent in 1891. At the same time there was a significant rise in the number of men employed in the local granite quarries and then the newer industry of china clay extraction. Clay labourers accounted for just one per cent in 1851, but comprised 18 per cent by 1881, with the biggest rise occurring in the 1870s.’

‘Tin Streaming: An Ancient Industry’ by Allen Buckley

1995 Available online: Cornwall Yesteryear, Today & Dreckly

Available online: University of Exeter project

More on the history of tin streaming.

‘It is hard to appreciate in 1995 just how wide-spread and important to the Cornish economy tin streaming used to be. Hardly a valley in the stanniferous districts of west, central and east Cornwall, has been completely untouched by the activities of generations of Cornish tinners. These tinners used the stream and river water to wash impurities from the precious ‘black tin’.’ Mining Activity in the Fal Estuary Catchment

LITTLE GILLIES - OS MAP - 25 INCH - CORNWALL XXXIV.13 - PUBLISHED 1881 (NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND)

LITTLE GILLIES - OS MAP - 25 INCH - CORNWALL XXXIV.13 - PUBLISHED 1907 (NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND)

VALUATION

GILLIES, LUXULYAN -

SURVEY MAP - 1910 (TNA: IR 58.71866)

LITTLE GILLIES, PLOT 223 & 275 - VALUATION SURVEY MAP - 1910 (TNA: IR 58/71866)

GILLIES - TITHE APPORTIONMENT - 1839 (THE GENEALOGIST, ORIGINAL DATA: TNA: IR 29/6/113)

GILLIES - PARISH RATE BOOK - 1860 (FAMILY SEARCH, ORIGINAL DATA: KRESEN KERNOW)

CONVEYANCE, LOWER GILLIES - 1919 (KRESEN KERNOW, REF: MY/1/38/1 )

SECOND PART - CONVEYANCE, LOWER GILLIES - 1919 (KRESEN KERNOW, REF: MY/1/38/1 )

PLAN - CONVEYANCE, LOWER GILLIES - 1919 (KRESEN KERNOW, REF: MY/1/38/1 )

THE COAD FAMILY, ‘LOWER GILLIES’, CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1841 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE STONEMAN FAMILIES, ‘GILLYS’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1851 - PG1 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE STONEMAN FAMILIES, ‘GILLYS’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1851 - PG2 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE STONEMAN FAMILIES, ‘GILLYS’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1861 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE STONEMAN FAMILIES, ‘GILLYS’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1871 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE STONEMAN FAMILY, ‘GILLYS’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1881 - PG1 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE MERRIFIELD FAMILY, ‘GILLYS’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1881 - PG2 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE DOCKING & MERRIFIELD FAMILIES ‘GILLIES’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES1891 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE TOMS & STURTRIDGE FAMILIES ‘GILLIES’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1901 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE MERRIFIELDS, ‘GILLEYS’ (ROAD SIDE COTTAGE) - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1911 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE TOMS, ‘GILLEYS’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1911 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE TOMS, ‘GILLIES’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1921 - PG1 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

THE TOMS, ‘GILLIES’ - CENSUS RETURNS OF ENGLAND & WALES - 1921 - PG2 (ORIGINAL DATA: TNA)

WILLIAM STONEMAN, 15, OF ‘GILLIS’ ATTACKED - SAT 22 NOV 1871 - THE CORNISH TELEGRAPH (BNA)

PRESTON TOMS, OF ‘GILLIES’, TAKEN AS POW - FRI 14 JUNE 1918 - THE CORNISH GUARDIAN (BNA)

RAYMOND TOMS, OF LITTLE GILLIES, IMPRISONED - FRI 31 OCT 1919THE CORNISH GUARDIAN (BNA)

AUCTION OF LITTLE GILLIES - SAT 07 JUNE 1919 - WESTERN MORNING NEWS (BNA)

‘THE GILLEY WORK’, WILL OF STEPHEN COCK - 1799

(SOURCE: KRESEN KERNOW)

DEATH CERTIFICATE OF JENEFER KEAM - 1871 (SOURCE: GRO.GOV.UK)