Cousin Jack lived in houses like these in Cornwall. Pendarves House and Trelawney House, Cornish miners houses, Mineral Point, Wisconsin.Mountain Mine, Allihies, Ireland. Cousin Jacks worked in most of the Irish minesLots of Cornish miners migrated to work in the Moonta Mine, AustraliaCousin Jacks built the engine house at Burra Mine, AustraliaA Cousin Jacks Headstone, Silver Plume, ColoradoCousin Jack Cornish miners at Tamarack, Keweenaw, MichiganCerro Blanco ghost mining town, Chile. Cousin Jack would have found it hot here!The Cornish Engine at O’kiep, Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa. Erected by Cornish migrantsCousin Jacks mines a Cornish Pasty in AustraliaChinese and White laborers in a gold mine in South Africa, probably Cornish minersCousin Jacks built Hughes's engine house, Moonta Mine, AustraliaPozo Ancho Mine, Linares, Spain, Many Cornish migrated to work in Spanish mines

Cousin Jack miners at O'Okiep mine, South Africa, 1890

Cartoon satirising the cult of Cousin Jack in Australia

The Migration of Cornish ‘Cousin Jack’ Mineworkers

This website aims to provide resources to explore the migration of Cornish mineworkers, primarily in the century after 1815. This is the period commonly referred to as Cornwall’s Great Migration, during which time the Cornish dominated the global hard rock mining industry, giving rise to the ‘cult’ of Cousin Jack.

The Cornish are often statistically invisible, designated as English in official documentation. But the Cornish are not English, and this fact was finally confirmed in 2014 when the Cornish people were recognised and afforded protection by the UK Government under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. My work, and that of other Cornish scholars, has sought to demonstrate the significant Cornish contribution to the British development of nineteenth century world mining resources.

Although recent postcolonial studies have begun to cast doubts on the prevalent triumphant and over-celebratory narratives of Cornwall’s role in the nineteenth century colonisation of nations across the globe (and this website does not shy away from discussing such issues), it is beyond question that the Great Migration has had a profound impact on modern Cornwall, and on many places around the world.

This website aims to tell the remarkable story of how a small nation from the south west corner of Britain aided the development of the modern global hard rock mining economy, and managed to dominate it for near a century.

It includes interactive maps showing many of the places to which they migrated. Some of the most important or less well known destinations will have detailed illustrated histories. Currently in development is a searchable database of over 3,000 Cornish mineworkers who migrated to Latin America, which has been painstakingly compiled from countless sources during 30 years of research.

Being Cornish born and bred, and having many hundreds of ancestors on both sides of my family tree who contributed to the movement of mining families to and from Cornwall, I have amassed a lot of information on this period. I feel strongly that we should all share in the dissemination of information concerning this important chapter of our nation’s history. It is a heritage that belongs to ‘One and All.’

I very much hope that you too will contribute to the update of content on this website through the submission of information about the migration of Cornish miners, and by sharing any photographs, plans, maps, letters or diaries you might have.

In the meanwhile you are are welcome to look at the history of Cornish mining migration or explore some of the places where the Cornish went. You can also register as a subscriber to get updates and contribute to this website here

 

Latest posts

 

Aug
11

Vials of Camborne

Some corner of a foreign field that is forever Cornwall: The Vials of Camborne Just recently I was delighted to discover that I am distantly related to John Edgar Benjamin Vial (1894-1916), who died on active service in France during the First World War. Although he is interred in France, because he was born in… Read More »Vials of Camborne

Aug
03

Talk about Cornish mineworkers in South Africa

‘The Parish Next Door’: Cornish mineworkers and South Africa in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries For several decades from the 1850s, South Africa was a major destination for Cornish mineworkers. From the copper mines of Namaqualand, the diamond mines of Kimberley, to the Gold Rush in the Witwatersrand, the Cornish were at the very… Read More »Talk about Cornish mineworkers in South Africa

Jul
27

Upcoming illustrated talks to celebrate the Cornish arrival in Real del Monte-Pachuca, Mexico

Save the dates! This year marks the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first Cornish mineworkers to the great silver mines of Real del Monte and Pachuca in Mexico. I am delighted to have worked with the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site on the production of three fabulous banners which highlight this truly remarkable… Read More »Upcoming illustrated talks to celebrate the Cornish arrival in Real del Monte-Pachuca, Mexico

Jul
09

A Cornishman in Chilecito, Argentina

A Cornishman in Chilecito, Argentina ¡Feliz Día de la Independencia Argentina! Today (9 July) Argentina celebrates its Independence Day, and to mark this special occasion, we focus on a Cornishman who made Argentina his home, and acquired a fortune and a place in the history books in the process.   © Dr Sharron P. Schwartz… Read More »A Cornishman in Chilecito, Argentina

Jul
04

Elections Past: The Mining Division

Elections Past: The Mining Division Today my countrymen go to the polling stations to cast their vote for a new government. My ward is the Camborne and Redruth constituency. This roughly corresponds to the old Mining Division, and this got me thinking about the elections that took place at the dawn of the twentieth century:… Read More »Elections Past: The Mining Division

Jul
03

Camborne Pachuca friendship agreement: 16 years today

Sixteen Years of Friendship: Camborne and Pachuca Sixteen years ago today (3rd July), a group of Cornish visitors stood shoulder to shoulder with Mexican friends, colleagues and relatives to witness an historic event. Camborne Mayor, Jean Charman, signed a friendship agreement with the Mayor of Pachuca, Omar Fayad Meneses, in the presence of the Secretary… Read More »Camborne Pachuca friendship agreement: 16 years today

Jun
30

The Mountain that Eats Men: A Visit to John Penberthy’s Potosí

The Mountain that Eats Men: A Visit to John Penberthy’s Potosí In April 2013, I visited the famous mining area of Cerro Rico above the UNESCO-inscribed city of Potosí on the Bolivian Altiplano, on the trail of Cornish mining engineer, Captain John Penberthy (1839-1914). I had a remarkable opportunity to explore some mine workings that… Read More »The Mountain that Eats Men: A Visit to John Penberthy’s Potosí

Jun
24

Migration: Crown of Cornish Achievement, or Architect of its Decline? A Throwback in Verse

Migration: Crown of Cornish Achievement, or Architect of its Decline? A Throwback in Verse Sorting through my research and old teaching notes, I happened upon this absolute gem that was written by one of my students. It was penned in response to my course on Cornwall’s Great Migration and the advent of peripherality due to… Read More »Migration: Crown of Cornish Achievement, or Architect of its Decline? A Throwback in Verse