Archive CD Books:History, Topography & Genealogy Books on CD:Great Britain:England:Cornwall:History & Topography
As Rod Neep is retiring, Archive CD Books Ltd will cease trading and the company will be closed down. The company is not being sold. We expect the close to take place on 30th September 2007, after which this on-line catalogue and ordering will no longer be available.
Any orders received by this date will be processed and posted during the following couple of weeks. Because we expect to be busy making many more CDs than normal please be patient for your delivery.
Catalogue prices shown on these pages are the normal prices, BUT AT THE TIME OF CHECKOUT A 50% DISCOUNT WILL BE APPLIED on all orders where the normal order price is greater than £15.00 (before tax and postage)
A stunningly gorgeous reference book for Devon and Cornwall.
Written by Mrs Henry Pennell Whitcombe and published in 1874. A collection of superstitions, legends and customs that your Devon and Cornwall ancestors would have passed down through the generations. Read about Imps in Mines, the Giant's Burial Place, Fishermen's and Miners' Superstitions and much more. Fascinating reading.
Price: £8.50 £9.99 Including VAT at 17.5%
From the title page,
"A catalogue of the writings of Cornishmen both manuscript and printed and of works relating to the county of Cornwall. With biographical memoranda and copious literary references."
Each entry contains information about the person's publications, career and often details about their family too. Everyone is included even those who have only been published once. Great information source.
Example: SYMONS John (eld son of John Symons, receiver general of the inland revenue for the West of England, b. Tintagel 1793, d. Mayon House Sennen 20 Oct 1875, m. Amelia Millet, only dau of James Trembath and Honor his wife, dau of John Millet of Bosavern. She d. Mayon House 5 Nov 1873 aged 74) a merchant at Manchester 1843-67, Resident (oct 1876) Mayon House. M. (1) 5 Oct 1855 at Manchester, Hannah second Dau. Of Will. Romaine callender; m (2) 1 Dec 1875 at Sennen, Anna Hodge, dau of Thos. And Elizabeth Laity of Perranuthnoe afterwards of sennen. She was b. perranuthanoe.
Note on the appearance of the grey mullet during corresponding periods and quantities of fish caught at sennen cove in 1874 and 1875. Journal R.I.C. Sep 1875, p212.
All that genealogical information, even though he only wrote one, small article!
Price: £21.70 £25.50 Including VAT at 17.5%
Reprinted from The Cornish Telegraph in 1906 and edited by Peter Penn. The CD contains the articles from the newspaper that have been selected for their particular points of interest and organised into topical chapters. Chapters include, Race, History, Topography, Biography, Genealogy, Language, Dialect, Surnames and Place names, Antiquities and Folk Lore, Mining, Phenomena, Epitaphs, Curious sign posts, Eccentric characters and Humorous stories.
Teeming with background information about Cornwall and its inhabitants.
Price: £12.13 £14.25 Including VAT at 17.5%
The ancient language of Cornwall with an enlarged glossary of Cornish provincial words. Also contains information about Dolly Pentreath, the last known person who spoke the ancient Cornish language as her mother tongue. Long descended from Cornishmen the writer has a clannish fondness for Cornish words and phrases.
Some examples,
DOCY, Pretty charming or neat in person i.e. A docy little maid.
GLUMPY, Sulky.
STEW Fuss, ill temper, row i.e. What a stew you're in!
PENNY LIGGY. Hard up for cash.
Reading this book you can see where the English language has got some of it's phrases from. It is a lovely book with words that will delight the reader. A must for those with Cornish interests.
Price: £9.79 £11.50 Including VAT at 17.5%
The original Gentleman's Magazine contained articles on a vast array of subjects, including lots of wonderful topographical pieces.
In 1891 George Gomme republished all of these topograhical articles but edited and indexed them into county specific order. Each of Gomme's works contains between two and four separate counties, except for the London volumes.
An absolute goldmine of information about the county, its people and its places.
A compendium set comprising all 15 volumes. Each individual book includes between two and four counties, with the exception of London which is in its own three volume set but is included in the compendium.
Each book is available separately (see individual county topography pages) but this compendium set for the whole of England will save you over 120.00 GBP on the separate CD's Price: £34.00 £39.95 Including VAT at 17.5%
This is one of the most important resources that we have seen, and one that should be of great interest to all family historians. Published in 1772 it was the handbook of the duties and responsibilities of the Parish Officer.
It includes the duties of the overseers of the poor, the power in relieving, employing and settling, etc. of poor persons; the laws relating to the poor, and settlements, and the statutes concerning masters and servants. The right of Settlement was something that was of great concern to all of our ancestors. Basically, to be able to have right of settlement in a parish, one had to be born there, married there or serving an apprenticeship there. Proof was all-important, especially if a person became destitute and needed support from the parish. Parish officers would have people literally evicted and transported to another parish under such circumstances. What happened about bastardy? What obligations does an apprentice have to his master and vice-versa? This book describes it all, together with the supporting laws.
Other sections of the book include the authority and duty of constables, tithingmen, etc.; churchwardens, how they should be chosen, their duties, church accounts, repairing of churches, etc. There are some very interesting punishments for not attending church and keeping to the rules! There is a section on surveying the highways, Scavengers, methods of taxation of the highways, and laws. And finally, the duties and powers of Watchmen.
Price: £15.11 £17.75 Including VAT at 17.5%
A wonderful collection of West Country maps.
Cornwall county maps 1695, 1814, 1831, 1837, 1844, 1856.
Newquay town plan 1909.
Devon county maps 1695, 1831, 1837, 1844.
Exeter town plan 1909.
Plymouth and Devonport plan 1896.
Somerset county maps 1695, 1831, 1837, 1844.
Dorset county maps 1695, 1831, 1837, 1844, 1849, 1927, 1931.
Wonderfully detailed descriptions of historical events, churches and local worthies in every parish in the county. Price: £15.11 £17.75 Including VAT at 17.5%
By J. Stephen Flynn, 1917.
"Cornwall, at one time a county altogether unique, is undergoing a rapid transformation. The following brief sketches of its religious and social life… will, it is hoped, be welcomed by lovers of the old times.
During a residence of twenty-one years in the county the author learned all that is here recorded. He kept no diary, but he believes memory has been reasonably kind to him."
Fascinating details of Cornwall and its people
An excellent way to discover more about the places your ancestors lived and how their lifestyle was shaped by the events happening around them and the land. This book covers a physical description of the districts, and their history including Prehistoric and Roman periods, the introduction of Christianity, local antiquities and churches, the reformation, Elizabethans and so on up to 1892 when the book was published. It has a lovely section on old sayings and Cornish language. Price: £9.79 £11.50 Including VAT at 17.5%
A superb history of the county of Cornwall, illustrated with thirty eight exquisite plates and a wonderful county map.
Amongst the subjects covered are fairs, population, peers, extinct families, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, deer parks, produce and manufactures, trade and ports plus much more besides. Price: £15.11 £17.75 Including VAT at 17.5%
It is very much parish based rather than a county history so some events which would otherwise be missed in the broad sweep of history are covered in fine detail here.
There are local customs such as the children of St. Ives dancing around the monument erected by John Knill esq. There are detailed descriptions of the churches (and what the author thought of the architect). Many inscriptions from the memorials are quoted in full, some of which do not survive today and there are the strange pre-historic houses that the Vicar of St. Just found on the edge of his parish that you can still visit.
"Important" parishes such as Launceston St. Mary Magdalene get many pages of treatment because much has happened there over the years, but humble parishes such as Morvah are not neglected and the author finds something of interest to say about each in turn. Price: £15.50 £18.21 Including VAT at 17.5%
A Record of the Disastrous Storm which raged throughout Devon, Cornwall and West Somerset On the Night of March 9th 1891.
A fascinating account, with lots of personal stories and people's names. Early photographs. (Published April 1891 just weeks after the event)
Book kindly loaned by Trevor Western. USA. Price: £9.79 £11.50 Including VAT at 17.5%
Written in 1869 by Charles Garton Honor, a Gospel Minister and long term Cornwall resident, this is a fascinating and charmingly written little book full of day to day observations about the county's main industries, fishing and mining.
This really is one of those 'unputdownable' books.
By M M Pollard. Published 1885 by W. P. Nimmo Hay & Mitchell.
The story of a tin mining community in Cornwall during harder times, including detailed descriptions about life in a home, underground in the mines, mine misfortunes, etc.
The book also contains a second story by Margaret Vernon, also an account of life in a mining town.
A few lovely illustrations are included. Price: £9.79 £11.50 Including VAT at 17.5%
A tourist's guide, published in 1909. It is of particular interest to the historian and genealogist due to its excellent descriptions and history of the places. Excellent maps of the area. Price: £9.79 £11.50 Including VAT at 17.5%
