Stories that are handed down
When I first started to look at my ancestry an uncle, my father's brother, told me that my great-grandfather had come to the North East from Cornwall. The story was that the Cornish tin mines were closing down and the Durham coal field needed miners so men travelled the 400 miles or more to find work, bringing their wives and children with them. The desperation to find work must have been overwhelming to travel that far.
For years I treasured that additional Celtic link, the other side of my ancestry being Irish. I searched the records that were available on line but to no avail. Nowhere could I find anything about a Chicken family in Cornwall. As years went by more and more records became available but still no sign of the family. I carried on working (intermittently) on the information I could glean about them in County Durham. Eventually I realised that I had in fact found records of my great-grandfather, not in any way in Cornwall. He was Durham born and bred, as was his father before him and his father before him! What had started this family story was a very simple mistake - Great grandad had lived in an area of Murton that was known locally as Little Cornwall because in the late 19th century it did house a significant number of former Cornish tin miners. My uncle was only 4 years old when his Grandad died. He'd obviously heard the area referred to as Cornwall and perhaps years later learned that Cornwall was a place in SW England, put two and two together and come up with five.
One important lesson learned - although the memories of older relatives are useful they aren't infallible!
#52Ancestors
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