Cornish Australian
Encyclopedia
Cornish Australians are citizens of Australia whose ancestry originates in Cornwall
, United Kingdom, one of the six Celtic Nations
. They form part of the worldwide Cornish diaspora which also includes large numbers of people in the US
, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico and many Latin American countries. Cornish Australians are thought to make up around 4.3 per cent of the Australian population and are thus one of the largest ethnic groups in Australia.
Cornish people first arrived in Australia with Captain Cook, most notably Zachary Hickes
, and there were some Cornish convicts on the First Fleet
, James Ruse
, Mary Bryant
, along with several of the early governors. The creation of South Australia, with its emphasis on being free of convicts and religious discrimination, was championed by many Cornish religious dissenting groups and Cornish people comprised a sizeable proportion of settlers to that colony. Large scale Cornish emigration to Australia did not begin until the 1840s, coinciding with the Cornish potato famine and slumps in the Cornish mining industry. The gold rushes and copper booms were major draws on Cornish people, not just from Cornwall itself, but also from other countries where they had previously settled.
In recent years the story of the Lost Children of Cornwall, child migrants sent from Cornwall to Australia up until the early 1970s, has come under intense scrutiny. The practice of sending apparently unwanted or orphaned Cornish children abroad continued long after it had ceased, after being discredited, in other areas. It has been the subject of apologies by both the Australian and British prime ministers.
group in Australia after the English
, Irish
and Scottish
, and the fifth largest ethnic group in Australia.
Approximately 10 percent of the population of South Australia, and over 3 percent of Australia as a whole, has significant Cornish
ancestry. In the 1986 Australian Census 15,000 people reported their ancestry as Cornish, however, no figure from the 2006 Australian census has been published as to how many reported their ancestry as such in that year.
In 2011 a campaign was launched to increase the number of people writing in their Cornish ancestry on the 2011 Austalian Census.
The Kernewek Lowender
(Cornish
for "Cornish happiness"), held biennially since 1973 in the South Australian towns of Moonta
, Kadina
and Wallaroo
, is the largest Cornish festival in the world, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year.
There have been four Cornish festivals held in the City of Bendigo since 2002. The most recent was held at Eaglehawk
in March 2010 and was entitled 'Welcome Back Cousin Jack'(We welcome you 'One and All').
, once took part in a pasty-making contest. Swanky beer
and saffron cake were very popular in the past and have been revitalised by Kernewek Lowender and the Cornish Associations.
In the 1880s Henry Madren Leggo, whose parents came from St Just, Cornwall, began making vinegar, pickles, sauces, cordials and other grocery goods based on his mother’s traditional recipes. His company, now known as Leggo's, is wrongly believed by many to be Italian.
Angove Family Winemakers, formerly Angove's, was founded by Dr W.T. Angove, a Cornish doctor who migrated to South Australia with his family in 1886. He planted vines in the outer Adelaide suburb of Tea Tree Gully, though 125 years on most of its wines are based on Riverland grapes. They have recently started producing wines from their new vineyard purchased in 2002 in McLaren Vale. The distribution company wholesales not only Angove wines and St Agnes Brandy but also Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne and a dozen other companies' wines and spirits.
Matt Wilkinson of Pope Joan in Brunswick East, Melbourne, won the Southern Final of the Great Australian Sandwichship in 2011 with his lunch roll The Cornish which won an award in it's category.
Members of the Gorsedh Kernow make frequent visits to Australia, and there are a number of Cornish Australian bards.
South Australian Aborigines
, particularly the Nunga
, are said to speak English with a Cornish accent due to the fact that they were taught English by Cornish miners. Most large towns in South Australia had newspapers at least partially in Cornish dialect. At least 23 Cornish words have made their way into Australian English
, these include the mining terms fossick and nugget.
Kangaroo
is D. H. Lawrence
's semi autobiographical novel based on his wartime experiences in Cornwall and subsequent visit to Australia.
D. M. Thomas
is an internationally renowned Cornish author who spent part of his childhood in Australia, drawing upon his experiences in his work.
Rosanne Hawke is an award winning author of children's books from Kapunda in South Australia.
Bruce Pascoe, half Cornish, half Aboriginal, writer who takes his wry humour from his ethnic roots.
The Gommock. Exploits of a Cornish Fool in Colonial Australia. is a historical novel by Marie S. Jackman based around the lives of a Cornish emigrant miner Yestin Tregarthy and his wife Charlotte, set at the Burra Burra copper mine in South Australia.
Nobel-Prize-winning author Patrick White
wrote many novels with Cornish characters and themes. His fifth novelVoss
, includes a character by the name of Laura Trevelyan. A Fringe of Leaves
portrays Cornishwoman Ellen Roxburgh nee Gluyas shipwrecked on an island and living amongst the aboriginal population.
. Cornish Australians have a place in the transnational Cornish carol writing tradition. The Christmas Welcome: A Choice Collection of Cornish Carols, published at Moonta in 1893, was one of several such collections published between 1890 and 1925 from Polperro
to Johannesburg
. The Cornish also used to decorate their houses with greenery for Christmas, a tradition that was transported with them to Australia.
Cornish male voice choirs and brass bands were once a popular part of Cornish Australian culture, but this has waned somewhat.
The Cornish took some of their own sports with them to Australia. Cornish wrestling
matches were a regular occurrence, held at festivities throughout the year, particularly Midsummer, Easter and Christmas. Thousands attended these contests, which were sometimes spread over several days and with wrestlers representing different mining regions.
.The first Labor party minority government in Tasmania (1909) was led by premier John Earle
. The first Labor party majority government in South Australia (1910–12) was led by premier John Verran
, a Cornishman from Gwennap. The first Labor party majority government in Western Australia (1911–16) was led by premier John Scaddan
, a Cornishman from Moonta. Sir Robert Menzies founded the Liberal Party of Australia
in 1944.
, and four Premiers of Western Australia, have been of Cornish descent or birth.
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There have been many other Australian politicians of Cornish birth or descent. Some of these are listed below, starting with perhaps the most important, Sir John Quick, Founding Father of the Australian Federation.
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and Edward Pellew, conscious of their Cornish identity, recruited heavily from their fellow Cornishmen. Samuel Wallis
, from Lanteglos-by-Camelford, was one of Boscawen's protégés and the first European to discover Easter Island
and Tahiti
in 1767. Cornish naval officers played a major role in the early years of the Australian colony.
Philip Gidley King
– 3rd Governor, who arrived on the First Fleet as First Lieutenant in Captain Phillips' ship. One of those who went ashore to look for water, he had his first encounter with the Aborigines
, offering them beads and mirrors. Botany Bay proving a disappointment, King recommended the location at Port Jackson
as an alternative. Ralph Clark, an officer of Marines, compared the new location with the River Tamar
in Cornwall, 'I cannot compair [sic] any think [sic] to come nearer to it than about 3 miles above Saltash on the Wair.' King and 22 others were sent to colonise Norfolk Island
. This eventually came to nothing and the island was abandoned in 1806. After a traumatic time on the island King went back to Britain to recuperate, leaving Nicholas Nepean, from Saltash
, in charge. He returned in November 1791 and in 1800 he became governor of New South Wales. In 1803 he ordered the occupation of Van Diemen's Land
as a convict settlement, there he founded Launceston
named after the town of his birth.
William Bligh
– 4th Governor, most famous as the victim of the Mutiny on the Bounty
, he was also unfortunate enough to be the victim of a coup d'etat at the hands of the infamous Rum Corps on 26 January 1808. He had tried to reign them in, something King had failed to do, but instead spent the next two years in exile on Van Diemen's Land while the colony was ruled by a military junta. He returned in 1810 when Lachlan Macquarie
was appointed as governor. Shortly afterwards he left Australia for good.
Sir George Arthur – Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, now the State of Tasmania, 1823–1837. At the time Van Diemen's Land was the main British penal colony
and it was separated from New South Wales in 1825. It was during Arthur's time in office that Van Diemen's Land gained much of its notorious reputation as a harsh penal colony. He selected Port Arthur
as the ideal location for a prison settlement, on a peninsula
connected by a narrow, easily guarded isthmus
, surrounded by shark-infested seas. He failed in his attempts to reform the colony and the system of penal transportation
with Arthur's autocratic and authoritarian rule leading to his recall. By this time he was one of the wealthiest men in the colony. He returned to Britain in 1837.
21 Cornish convicts arrived in Australia aboard the Charlotte and Scarborough in 1788. A further twelve were sent in the Second Fleet of 1790, though six died on the way, and sixteen were carried on the Third Fleet of 1791. Some 600 convicts were transported from Cornwall to Australia between 1787 and 1852, 78 per cent of whom were male. Some of the most famous of these included:
Ten percent of the South Australian population has significant Cornish ancestry. Cornish surnames are more heavily concentrated in South Australia where six of the top ten surnames are Cornish.
Internationally renowned Cornish author D. M. Thomas
, who spent part of his childhood in Melbourne, visited the town of Truro, South Australia
in the late 20th Century. There, he found that, "Cornwall seemed close ... Cornish miners had come in droves in the last century, and played a large part in founding the state. A High School class to which I read and talked had three children with solidly Cornish names, who knew all about their ancestry."
In its heyday Moonta was South Australia's second largest town after Adelaide
and was predominately settled by Cornish miners and their families. Today it is known as 'Australia's Little Cornwall'. Along with the other principal towns of Kadina and Wallaroo
in the northern Yorke Peninsula
this mining area became known as the Copper Triangle and was a significant source of prosperity for South Australia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today Moonta is most famous for its traditional Cornish pasties and its Cornish style miner's cottages and mine engine houses such as Richman's and Hughes engines houses built in the 1860s. Many streets and houses have Cornish names. Many descendants of these Cornish families bearing their Cornish surnames still live in the Copper Triangle and the area is intensely proud of its Cornish heritage. Many of the original miners cottages made from wattle and daub
still stand and are still lived in by local residents. Many Cornish subsiquently left the area during the Victorian and Western Australian gold-rushes.
Copper was discovered in Kapunda in the 1840s, coinciding with the Cornish potato famine which led to many Cornish people emigrating to the town.
Copper was discovered at Montacute, in the Adelaide Hills
, soon after Kapunda, and Cornish miners were in the forefront of this development.
The Burra
mine, or 'the Monster' as it was colloquially known, acted like a magnet to the Cornish in Australia. Discovered in 1845, it proved to be an incredibly rich mine, sparking a new wave of immigration to South Australia. The main township is called Redruth after Redruth
in Cornwall.
In 1881 46.9 percent of fathers and 41.4 percent of mothers in Bendigo were born in Cornwall. This was in addition to those Cornish who were born in Australia or places as far afield as Mexico
or Brazil
. The Cornish in Bendigo outnumbered the combined strength of their Irish and Scottish counterparts.
Along with Bendigo, Ballarat was one of the major Cornish mining settlements in Victoria.
Many Cornish settled in Geelong, especially after the decline of the gold-fields.
Many Moonta and Bendigo Cornish took up mining in Broken Hill. The Cornish presence in Broken Hill
was bolstered by Cornish American
miners from Nevada, who brought with them better technology for working in the silver-lead sulphide deposits.
Once the third largest town in Western Australia, Coolgardie
attracted the Cornish during the 1890s to mine gold.
The city of Kalgoorlie with Boulder
attracted great numbers of Cornish both from within and outside Australia, due to their extensive goldfields.
Cornish miners worked at the Geraldine mine in Western Australia and the nearby town of Northampton. Their produce was shipped out of Port Gregory, Western Australia
in small vessels like the tramp steamer SS Xantho
and then transhipped to the port of Geraldton where it was loaded onto wool ships bound for England as a form of 'paying ballast'.
Places named after Evan Nepean
, a Cornish politician in the late eighteenth century. The name "Nepean" is thought to come from Nanpean (“the head of the valley”), in Cornish:
Places named after Henry Dangar
:
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, United Kingdom, one of the six Celtic Nations
Celtic nations
The Celtic nations are territories in North-West Europe in which that area's own Celtic languages and some cultural traits have survived.The term "nation" is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common traditional identity and culture and are identified with a traditional...
. They form part of the worldwide Cornish diaspora which also includes large numbers of people in the US
Cornish American
Cornish Americans are citizens of the United States who describe themselves as having Cornish ancestry. Cornish ancestry is not recognised on the United States Census, although the Cornish people are recognised as a separate ethnic group and national identity for the United Kingdom Census...
, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico and many Latin American countries. Cornish Australians are thought to make up around 4.3 per cent of the Australian population and are thus one of the largest ethnic groups in Australia.
Cornish people first arrived in Australia with Captain Cook, most notably Zachary Hickes
Zachary Hickes
Zachary Hickes was a Royal Navy officer, second-in-command on Lieutenant James Cook's voyage to the east coast of Australia. Hickes spelt his name with an "e", but it has often been written by others as Hicks without the "e".Hickes was 29 and held the rank of lieutenant when appointed to Cook's...
, and there were some Cornish convicts on the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
, James Ruse
James Ruse
James Ruse was a Cornish farmer who, at the age of 23, was convicted of breaking and entering and was sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia. He arrived at Sydney Cove on the First Fleet with 18 months of his sentence remaining...
, Mary Bryant
Mary Bryant
Mary Bryant was a Cornish convict sent to Australia. She became one of the first successful escapees from the fledgling Australian penal colony.-Life:...
, along with several of the early governors. The creation of South Australia, with its emphasis on being free of convicts and religious discrimination, was championed by many Cornish religious dissenting groups and Cornish people comprised a sizeable proportion of settlers to that colony. Large scale Cornish emigration to Australia did not begin until the 1840s, coinciding with the Cornish potato famine and slumps in the Cornish mining industry. The gold rushes and copper booms were major draws on Cornish people, not just from Cornwall itself, but also from other countries where they had previously settled.
In recent years the story of the Lost Children of Cornwall, child migrants sent from Cornwall to Australia up until the early 1970s, has come under intense scrutiny. The practice of sending apparently unwanted or orphaned Cornish children abroad continued long after it had ceased, after being discredited, in other areas. It has been the subject of apologies by both the Australian and British prime ministers.
Number of Cornish Australians
A 1996 study by Dr. Charles Price gives the total ethnic strength of Cornish Australians as 269,500 with a total population of 768,100. This is made up by 22,600 of un-mixed origin and 745,500 of mixed origin and equates to 4.3 percent of the Australian population. This makes the Cornish the fourth largest Anglo-CelticAnglo-Celtic Australian
Anglo-Celtic Australian are citizens of Australia with British and/or Irish ancestral origins.-Demography:From the beginning of the colonial era until the mid-20th century, the vast majority of settlers were British or Irish...
group in Australia after the English
English Australian
English Australians, also known as Anglo-Australians are Australians of English descent, are the single largest ethnic group in Australia and the largest 'ancestry' identity in the Australia Census after "Australian"...
, Irish
Irish Australian
Irish Australians have played a long and enduring part in Australia's history. Many came to Australia in the eighteenth century as settlers or as convicts, and contributed to Australia's development in many different areas....
and Scottish
Scottish Australian
Scottish Australians are residents of Australia who are of Scottish ancestry.According to the 2006 Australian census 130,204 Australian residents were born in Scotland, while 1,501,204 claimed Scottish ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry.- History :The links between...
, and the fifth largest ethnic group in Australia.
Approximately 10 percent of the population of South Australia, and over 3 percent of Australia as a whole, has significant Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
ancestry. In the 1986 Australian Census 15,000 people reported their ancestry as Cornish, however, no figure from the 2006 Australian census has been published as to how many reported their ancestry as such in that year.
In 2011 a campaign was launched to increase the number of people writing in their Cornish ancestry on the 2011 Austalian Census.
Festivals
The Cornish who moved to Australia brought with them many festivities and holidays. The most important being at Christmas and Midsummer.- Christmas, amongst other things they would bring greenery inside their houses and sing their traditional carols.
- MidsummerMidsummerMidsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...
, 24 June, was traditionally celebrated with fire. Cornish Australians used large amounts of fireworks, described as enough to bombard a town, as well as numerous bonfires. As it was a observed as a general holiday large numbers of community events also took place, including many sporting events, concerts, parades and tea-treats. - The Duke of CornwallDuke of CornwallThe Duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in the peerage of England.The present Duke of Cornwall is The Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning British monarch .-History:...
's birthday was observed as a general holiday. - Whit MondayWhit MondayWhit Monday or Pentecost Monday is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a movable feast in the Christian calendar. It is movable because it is determined by the date of Easter....
was believed to be a more important celebration than the Queen's birthday. - St Piran's Day was celebrated during the early days in South Australia.
The Kernewek Lowender
Kernewek Lowender
The Kernewek Lowender is a Cornish-themed biennial festival held in the Copper Coast towns ofKadina, Moonta and Wallaroo on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia....
(Cornish
Cornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
for "Cornish happiness"), held biennially since 1973 in the South Australian towns of Moonta
Moonta, South Australia
Moonta is a town located on the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia, 165 kilometres north-northwest of the state capital of Adelaide. It is one of three towns known as the Copper Coast or "Little Cornwall" for their shared copper mining history....
, Kadina
Kadina, South Australia
Kadina is a town located on the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia, approximately 144 kilometres north-northwest of the state capital of Adelaide. The largest town of the Peninsula, Kadina is one of the three Copper Triangle towns famous for their shared copper mining history...
and Wallaroo
Wallaroo, South Australia
Wallaroo is a port town on the western side of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia, 160 kilometres north-northwest of Adelaide. It is one of the three Copper Triangle towns famed for their historic shared copper mining industry, and known together as "Little Cornwall", the other two being Kadina ...
, is the largest Cornish festival in the world, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year.
There have been four Cornish festivals held in the City of Bendigo since 2002. The most recent was held at Eaglehawk
Eaglehawk, Victoria
Eaglehawk is a former gold-mining town in Victoria, Australia and a suburb within the City of Greater Bendigo.The town is situated to the north-west of Bendigo on the Loddon Valley Highway. The highway is known locally as High Street until the intersection with Sailors Gully Road and as Peg Leg...
in March 2010 and was entitled 'Welcome Back Cousin Jack'(We welcome you 'One and All').
Food and drink
Cornish food like the Cornish pasty is still popular amongst the Cornish Australian communities. Former premier of South Australia, Don DunstanDon Dunstan
Donald Allan "Don" Dunstan, AC, QC was a South Australian politician. He entered politics as the Member for Norwood in 1953, became state Labor leader in 1967, and was Premier of South Australia between June 1967 and April 1968, and again between June 1970 and February 1979.The son of a business...
, once took part in a pasty-making contest. Swanky beer
Copper Coast Wines
Copper Coast Wines is a South Australian brewer founded in 2005 to supply beer for the biennial Kernewek Lowender Festival held in the Copper Coast region of South Australia....
and saffron cake were very popular in the past and have been revitalised by Kernewek Lowender and the Cornish Associations.
In the 1880s Henry Madren Leggo, whose parents came from St Just, Cornwall, began making vinegar, pickles, sauces, cordials and other grocery goods based on his mother’s traditional recipes. His company, now known as Leggo's, is wrongly believed by many to be Italian.
Angove Family Winemakers, formerly Angove's, was founded by Dr W.T. Angove, a Cornish doctor who migrated to South Australia with his family in 1886. He planted vines in the outer Adelaide suburb of Tea Tree Gully, though 125 years on most of its wines are based on Riverland grapes. They have recently started producing wines from their new vineyard purchased in 2002 in McLaren Vale. The distribution company wholesales not only Angove wines and St Agnes Brandy but also Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne and a dozen other companies' wines and spirits.
Matt Wilkinson of Pope Joan in Brunswick East, Melbourne, won the Southern Final of the Great Australian Sandwichship in 2011 with his lunch roll The Cornish which won an award in it's category.
Language
The Cornish language is spoken by some enthusiasts in Australia.Members of the Gorsedh Kernow make frequent visits to Australia, and there are a number of Cornish Australian bards.
South Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
, particularly the Nunga
Nunga
Nunga is a term of self-reference for many of the Aboriginal peoples of southern South Australia.-Other names used by Australian Aboriginal people:There are a number of names from Aboriginal languages commonly used to identify groups based on geography:...
, are said to speak English with a Cornish accent due to the fact that they were taught English by Cornish miners. Most large towns in South Australia had newspapers at least partially in Cornish dialect. At least 23 Cornish words have made their way into Australian English
Australian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
, these include the mining terms fossick and nugget.
Literature
Not Only in Stone by Phyllis Somerville is the story of emigrant Cornishwoman, Polly Thomas, who faces many trials and tribulations in the pioneering era of South Australia. The book won the South Australian Centenary novel award in 1936.Kangaroo
Kangaroo (novel)
Kangaroo is a novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1923. It is set in Australia.-Description:Kangaroo is an account of a visit to New South Wales by an English writer named Richard Lovat Somers, and his German wife Harriet, in the early 1920s...
is D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
's semi autobiographical novel based on his wartime experiences in Cornwall and subsequent visit to Australia.
D. M. Thomas
D. M. Thomas
Donald Michael Thomas, known as D. M. Thomas , is a Cornish novelist, poet, and translator.Thomas was born in Redruth, Cornwall, UK. He attended Trewirgie Primary School and Redruth Grammar School before graduating with First Class Honours in English from New College, Oxford in 1959...
is an internationally renowned Cornish author who spent part of his childhood in Australia, drawing upon his experiences in his work.
Rosanne Hawke is an award winning author of children's books from Kapunda in South Australia.
Bruce Pascoe, half Cornish, half Aboriginal, writer who takes his wry humour from his ethnic roots.
The Gommock. Exploits of a Cornish Fool in Colonial Australia. is a historical novel by Marie S. Jackman based around the lives of a Cornish emigrant miner Yestin Tregarthy and his wife Charlotte, set at the Burra Burra copper mine in South Australia.
Nobel-Prize-winning author Patrick White
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
wrote many novels with Cornish characters and themes. His fifth novelVoss
Voss (novel)
Voss is the fifth published novel of Patrick White. It is based upon the life of the nineteenth-century Prussian explorer and naturalist Ludwig Leichhardt who disappeared whilst on an expedition into the Australian outback.-Plot summary:...
, includes a character by the name of Laura Trevelyan. A Fringe of Leaves
A Fringe of Leaves
A Fringe of Leaves is the tenth published novel by the Australian novelist and 1973 Nobel Prize-winner, Patrick White.-Plot:A young Cornish woman, Mrs Ellen Roxburgh, travels to the Australian colonies in the early 1830s with her much older husband, Austin, to visit the "black sheep" of the family,...
portrays Cornishwoman Ellen Roxburgh nee Gluyas shipwrecked on an island and living amongst the aboriginal population.
Music
Cornish Christmas carols are still traditionally sung in parts of Australia, just like in Grass Valley, CaliforniaGrass Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Grass Valley had a population of 12,860. The population density was 2,711.3 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Grass Valley was 11,493 White, 46 African American, 208 Native American, 188 Asian, 9 Pacific Islander, 419 from other...
. Cornish Australians have a place in the transnational Cornish carol writing tradition. The Christmas Welcome: A Choice Collection of Cornish Carols, published at Moonta in 1893, was one of several such collections published between 1890 and 1925 from Polperro
Polperro
Polperro is a village and fishing harbour on the south-east Cornwall coast in South West England, UK, within the civil parish of Lansallos. Situated on the River Pol, 4 miles west of the neighbouring town of Looe and west of the major city and naval port of Plymouth, it is well-known for...
to Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. The Cornish also used to decorate their houses with greenery for Christmas, a tradition that was transported with them to Australia.
Cornish male voice choirs and brass bands were once a popular part of Cornish Australian culture, but this has waned somewhat.
Religion
Many Cornish settlers in Australia were Methodist and many chapels were built in the places that they settled. Others were Anglican, while few were Roman Catholic. Their Methodism was a badge of distinctive Cornishness and also gave them their trade unionist convictions. Most of the 22000 Wesleyan Methodists, 6000 Primitive Methodists and more than 6000 Bible Christians in South Australia in 1866 were Cornish.Sport
There has been much involvement of Cornish Australians in sport over the years. Many playing rugby and cricket at an international level. This has led to the Cornish chant of "Oggie, Oggie, Oggie, Oi, Oi, Oi," taken on by all Australians as "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie."The Cornish took some of their own sports with them to Australia. Cornish wrestling
Cornish wrestling
Cornish wrestling is a form of wrestling which has been established in Cornwall, an area of southwest Britain for several centuries. The referee is known as a 'stickler', and it is claimed that the popular meaning of the word as a 'pedant' originates from this usage...
matches were a regular occurrence, held at festivities throughout the year, particularly Midsummer, Easter and Christmas. Thousands attended these contests, which were sometimes spread over several days and with wrestlers representing different mining regions.
Politics
The Cornish miners founded the first trade unions, and were instrumental in the formation of the Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
.The first Labor party minority government in Tasmania (1909) was led by premier John Earle
John Earle (Australian politician)
John Earle was an Australian politician and the first Labor Premier of Tasmania.- Early life :Born into a farming family of Cornish descent in Bridgewater, Tasmania, Earle left home at 17 to work as a blacksmith's apprentice in a Hobart foundry...
. The first Labor party majority government in South Australia (1910–12) was led by premier John Verran
John Verran
John Verran was the 26th Premier of South Australia, serving from 1910 to 1912. The 1910 election saw the South Australian division of the Australian Labor Party form a majority government, the first time a party had done so in South Australia...
, a Cornishman from Gwennap. The first Labor party majority government in Western Australia (1911–16) was led by premier John Scaddan
John Scaddan
John Scaddan, CMG , popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.- Biography :...
, a Cornishman from Moonta. Sir Robert Menzies founded the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
in 1944.
Heads of Government
Prime Ministers
Two of Australia's prime-ministers and one Acting prime Minister are known to have Cornish ancestry.- Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
, Australia's 12th and longest-serving Prime MinisterPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
, 1939–41 and again 1949–1966, was half Cornish. Meeting Cornish author A.L. Rowse in Oxford once, he introduced himself as "a Cornish Sampson on his mother's side." His grandfather was the prominent Cornish trade unionist John Sampson.
- Bob HawkeBob HawkeRobert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia and longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister. Both of his parents were of Cornish ancestry. Hawke's leadership has been credited with reinvigorating academic interest in the Cornish in Australia.
Acting Prime Ministers
- George PearceGeorge PearceSir George Foster Pearce KCVO was an Australian politician who was instrumental in founding the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia....
was acting prime minister for seven months in 1916 while Billy HughesBilly HughesWilliam Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
was overseas and remains the only Senator to have fulfilled the role of Prime Minister without resigning his Senate seat.
Premiers
Fourteen state premiers are known to have strong Cornish connections. At least six Premiers of South AustraliaPremiers of South Australia
Before the 1890s when there was no formal party system in South Australia, MPs tended to have historical liberal or conservative beliefs. The liberals dominated government from 1893 to 1905 with Labor support, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of...
, and four Premiers of Western Australia, have been of Cornish descent or birth.
South Australia
- George Marsden WaterhouseGeorge Marsden WaterhouseGeorge Marsden Waterhouse was a Premier of South Australia from 8 October 1861 until 3 July 1863 and the seventh Premier of New Zealand from 11 October 1872 to 3 March 1873.-Early life:...
– 6th Premier of South Australia, 1861–1863. 7th Premier of New Zealand, 1872–1873. Born in PenzancePenzancePenzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
in 1824.
- James Penn Boucaut – 11th Premier of South Australia. A judge and politician, Boucaut was Premier of South Australia three times: 1866–1867, 1875–1876 and 1877–1878. Born in Mylor in 1831, he emigrated to South Australia with his parents in 1846.
- John VerranJohn VerranJohn Verran was the 26th Premier of South Australia, serving from 1910 to 1912. The 1910 election saw the South Australian division of the Australian Labor Party form a majority government, the first time a party had done so in South Australia...
– 26th Premier of South Australia, 1910–1912. The 1910 election saw the South Australian division of the Australian Labor Party form a majority government, the first time a party had done so in South Australia. Verran was born at Gwennap in 1856 and when only three months old was taken by his parents to Australia. The family lived at Kapunda, South Australia, until he was eight, and then moved to Moonta where copper had been discovered in 1861.
- Robert Richards – 32nd Premier of South Australia, 1933. Born in Moonta in 1885, the youngest of twelve children to Cornish miner Richard Richards.
- Don DunstanDon DunstanDonald Allan "Don" Dunstan, AC, QC was a South Australian politician. He entered politics as the Member for Norwood in 1953, became state Labor leader in 1967, and was Premier of South Australia between June 1967 and April 1968, and again between June 1970 and February 1979.The son of a business...
– 35th Premier of South Australia, 1967–1968 and again 1970–79. Born on 21 September 1926 in Suva, Fiji to Australian parents of Cornish descent. He played a crucial role in Labor's abandonment of the White Australia Policy, securing of Aboriginal rights and encouraging a more multi-cultural Australia. His socially progressive administration saw Aboriginal land rights recognised, homosexuality decriminalised, the first female judge appointed, the first non-British governor, Sir Mark Oliphant, and later, the first indigenous governor Douglas Nicholls.
- David TonkinDavid TonkinDr David Oliver Tonkin AO was the 38th Premier of South Australia, serving from 18 September 1979 to 10 November 1982. He was elected to the House of Assembly seat of Bragg at the 1970 election, serving until 1983. He became the leader of the South Australian division of the Liberal Party of...
– 38th Premier of South Australia, 1979–1982. Born in Adelaide in 1929.
Western Australia
- John ScaddanJohn ScaddanJohn Scaddan, CMG , popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.- Biography :...
– 10th Premier of Western AustraliaPremier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, 1911–1916. John Scaddan was born in Moonta in 1876, into a Cornish family. He led the first Labor party majority government in Western Australia. The town of ScaddanScaddan, Western AustraliaScaddan is a small town in Western Australia located east of Perth situated just off the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway between Norseman and Esperance in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia....
located along the Esperance Branch RailwayEsperance Branch RailwayThe Esperance Branch Railway is a railway from Kalgoorlie to the port of Esperance in Western Australia.It was lobbied for by Esperance residents to be linked into the WAGR railway network to provide land transport to their region - Gauge and Route :...
in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia is named after John Scaddan.
- Albert HawkeAlbert HawkeAlbert Redvers George Hawke was the 18th Premier of Western Australia.Hawke was born to James Renfrey Hawke and Eliza Ann Blinman Pascoe, both of Cornish descent, in Kapunda, South Australia...
– 18th Premier of Western Australia, 1953–59. Born in 1900 to James Renfrey Hawke and Eliza Ann Blinman Pascoe, both of Cornish descent, in Kapunda, South Australia. He was uncle to Prime Minister Bob Hawke.
- David BrandDavid BrandSir David Brand KCMG was the 19th and longest serving Premier of Western Australia and a Member of the Legislative Assembly from 1945 to 1975.-Early life:...
– 19th and longest serving Premier of Western Australia, 1959–1971. His mother was the daughter of Samuel Mitchell, a prominent Cornish geologist and member of the Legislative Council (1884–85) and represented Murchison in the Legislative Assembly (1897–1901).
- John Trezise TonkinJohn TonkinJohn Trezise Tonkin AC , popularly known as "Honest John", was the 20th Premier of Western Australia , taking power after the almost 12 year term of Liberal Sir David Brand....
– 20th Premier of Western Australia, 1971–74. Born in Boulder, Western AustraliaBoulder, Western AustraliaBoulder was a town in the Western Australian goldfields east of Perth and bordering onto the town of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields region. Until 1989 it was part of its own municipality. In 1989 the towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder were merged to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder...
in 1902, Tonkin crusaded for many years for radio-wave therapy treatments for cancer sufferers. He set up a treatment clinic run by cancer surgeon Dr John Holt in the Sir Charles Gairdner HospitalSir Charles Gairdner HospitalSir Charles Gairdner Hospital is one of Australia's leading teaching hospitals, and is located in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia...
. The stage 4 completion of the Beechboro-Gosnells Highway in 1985 saw the highway renamed as Tonkin HighwayTonkin HighwayTonkin Highway, at , is a limited access dual carriageway in Perth, Western Australia, connecting Reid Highway in the north with Thomas Road in the south. Mostly a 4 lane highway, some sections of the highway are to a 4 to 6 lane freeway standard; the remainder of the highway has been designed to...
. Tonkin Bridge was also named after John Tonkin shortly after he died at age 93.
Tasmania
- Edward BraddonEdward BraddonSir Edward Nicholas Coventry Braddon, KCMG , Australian politician, was the Premier of Tasmania from 1894 to 1899, and was a Member of the First Australian Parliament in the House of Representatives...
– 18th Premier of Tasmania, 1894–1899. Braddon was born in St. Kew, Cornwall in 1829. He was a member of the First Australian Parliament in the House of RepresentativesAustralian House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
. Braddon was a Tasmanian delegateDelegateA delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...
to the Constitutional ConventionsConstitutional Convention (Australia)In Australian history, the term Constitutional Convention refers to four distinct gatherings.-1891 convention:The 1891 Constitutional Convention was held in Sydney in March 1891 to consider a draft Constitution for the proposed federation of the British colonies in Australia and New Zealand. There...
. Both the suburb of BraddonBraddon, Australian Capital TerritoryBraddon is an inner north suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Located north of the Canberra CBD, Braddon contains a commercial area centred on Mort and Lonsdale streets, which run parallel to Northbourne Avenue...
in the Australian Capital TerritoryAustralian Capital TerritoryThe Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
and the Division of BraddonDivision of BraddonThe Division of Braddon is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania.The division was created in 1955 to replace the abolished Division of Darwin, and is named for Sir Edward Braddon, a Premier of Tasmania and one of Tasmania's five original federal MPs...
in Tasmania are named after him. His sister, Mary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth BraddonMary Elizabeth Braddon was a British Victorian era popular novelist. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret.-Life:...
, was later a famous novelist.
- John EarleJohn Earle (Australian politician)John Earle was an Australian politician and the first Labor Premier of Tasmania.- Early life :Born into a farming family of Cornish descent in Bridgewater, Tasmania, Earle left home at 17 to work as a blacksmith's apprentice in a Hobart foundry...
– 22nd Premier of Tasmania, 1909 and again 1914–1916. Born into a farming family of Cornish descent in Bridgewater, TasmaniaBridgewater, TasmaniaBridgewater, Tasmania, is one greater Hobart's northern-most suburbs, located 19 km from the city. It is situated on the eastern shore of the Derwent River. It is a suburb of the local government area of the Municipality of Brighton....
in 1865. He became Tasmania's first Labor premier, leading a minority government. He was Vice-President of the Executive CouncilVice-President of the Executive CouncilThe Vice-President of the Federal Executive Council is a position in Australian federal governments, whose holder acts as presiding officer of the Federal Executive Council in the absence of the Governor-General....
from 1921–1923.
Queensland
- Anna BlighAnna BlighAnna Maria Bligh is an Australian politician and the Premier of Queensland since 2007. The 2009 Queensland state election was the first time a female-led political party won or retained state or federal government in Australia...
– 37th Premier of Queensland, 2009– . Bligh describes herself as a descendant of Cornishman William Bligh. Bligh is the first woman to be appointed Premier of Queensland and, at the 2009 Queensland State ElectionQueensland state election, 2009The Queensland state election was held to elect members to the unicameral Parliament of Queensland on 21 March 2009. The election saw the incumbent Labor government led by Premier Anna Bligh defeat the Liberal National Party of Queensland led by Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg, and gain a...
, she became the first woman elected in her own right as a state premier in Australia. In 2009, Bligh was elected to the three person presidential team of the Australian Labor Party, of which she will remain a part for three years. She currently serves as National President of the Australian Labor Party for the 2010–11 financial year.
Victoria
- Albert DunstanAlbert DunstanSir Albert Arthur Dunstan, KCMG was an Australian politician. A member of the Country Party , Dunstan was the 33rd Premier of Victoria. His term as Premier was the second-longest in the state's history, behind Sir Henry Bolte...
– 33rd Premier of Victoria, 1935–1943 and again 1943–1945. Dunstan was born on 26 July 1882 at Donald East, Victoria, the son of a Cornish gold rush immigrant. He was the second longest serving Premier and the first to hold the position in its own right.
Northern Territory
- John Langdon ParsonsJohn Langdon ParsonsJohn Langdon Parsons was a Cornish Australian politician. 5th Government Resident of the Northern Territory, 1884-1890.-Biography:...
– 5th Government Resident of the Northern TerritoryAdministrator of the Northern TerritoryThe Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to exercise powers analogous to that of a state governor...
, 1884–1890. Member of the South Australian House of Assembly for Encounter Bay, 1878–1881, and North Adelaide 1881. Minister of education, 1881–84. He was the first Minister for the Northern Territory, 1890–93. He was instrumental in the development of railways in the Territory, and he also recognised Aboriginal land rights. Parsons was consul for Japan from 1896–1903. Member for the Central district in the Legislative Council, 1901–1903. Born on 28 April 1837 at Botathan near Launceston, Cornwall.
Other Politicians
- John QuickJohn Quick (politician)Sir John Quick , Australian politician and author, was the federal Member of Parliament for Bendigo from 1901 to 1913 and a leading delegate to the constitutional conventions of the 1890s.-Early life:...
– Postmaster-General, 1909–1910. Federal Member of Parliament for Bendigo, 1901–1913. Victorian Legislative AssemblyVictorian Legislative AssemblyThe Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...
member for Bendigo, 1880–1889. He was a leading delegate to the constitutional conventions of the 1890s, proposing in August 1893 that a formal national convention should be established, with each of the six Australian colonies to be represented by ten elected delegates. The proposal was agreed on, and in November 1893 Quick drafted a bill which formed the basis of the deliberations at the formal convention held in Adelaide in 1897. Born Trevassa, Cornwall, in 1852. In 1913 Quick became the founding President of the first Bendigo Cornish Association.
- John Langdon BonythonJohn Langdon Bonython-Early life:Bonython was born in London in 1848, the second son of George Langdon Bonython and Annie MacBain. The family migrated to South Australia in July 1854. There, Bonython was educated at the Brougham School in North Adelaide...
– editor, newspaper proprietor, philanthropist, and journalist. Member of the First Australian Parliament. Member for South Australia, 1901–1903. Member for Barker, 1903–1906. Editor of the Adelaide daily morning broadsheet, The Advertiser, for 35 years.
- John Lavington BonythonJohn Lavington BonythonSir John Lavington Bonython was a prominent public figure in Adelaide, known for his work in journalism, business and politics. In association with his father, he became involved in the management of newspapers including The Advertiser; he also served as editor of The Saturday Express and as a...
– Mayor of Adelaide, 1911–1913. Lord Mayor of Adelaide, 1927–1930. Son of John Langdon Bonython.
- Herbert Angas ParsonsHerbert Angas ParsonsSir Herbert Angas Parsons KBE KC , was a Cornish Australian lawyer, politician and judge.Parsons was born in North Adelaide on 23 May 1872, the only son of Cornish born minister and politician, John Langdon Parsons and his wife Rose...
– judge and politician, son of politician John Langdon ParsonsJohn Langdon ParsonsJohn Langdon Parsons was a Cornish Australian politician. 5th Government Resident of the Northern Territory, 1884-1890.-Biography:...
. Member of the House of Assembly for Torrens, 1912–15, and for Murray 1918–21. He was briefly attorney-general and minister of education in 1915. Parsons was appointed K.C. in 1916, a judge of the Supreme Court in 1921, he was senior puisne judge in 1927, and acting chief justice in 1935. On occasions Parsons acted as deputy governor and, after his father's death, in 1904 he became consul for Japan. President of the Cornish Association of South Australia, warden of the University of Adelaide's senate, and vice-chancellor from 1942–1944. Son in law of John Langdon Bonython.
- Garfield BarwickGarfield BarwickSir Garfield Edward John Barwick, was the Attorney-General of Australia , Minister for External Affairs and the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia...
– Attorney-General of Australia, 1958–64. Minister for External Affairs, 1961–64. Seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia, 1964–81. He was appointed a judge of the International Court of Justice, 1973–74.
- John Pascoe FawknerJohn Pascoe FawknerJohn Pascoe Fawkner was an early pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land , to sail to the mainland in his ship, Enterprize...
– Founder of Melbourne. Member of the Victorian Legislative Council. His mother, Hannah Pascoe, was of Cornish parentage.
- John GaleJohn Gale (journalist)John Gale was the founder of the Queanbeyan Age, the first newspaper to serve Queanbeyan District...
– Father of CanberraCanberraCanberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
. Gale was the founder of the Queanbeyan Age newspaper. He is best remembered for his strong and successful advocacy of Queanbeyan-Canberra as the best site of a future Australian Capital. He was born in BodminBodminBodmin is a civil parish and major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of the county southwest of Bodmin Moor.The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character...
in 1831.
- Ray Williams – Member for the Electoral district of HawkesburyElectoral district of HawkesburyHawkesbury is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It was represented by Steven Pringle, formerly of the Liberal Party of Australia, who contested the 2007 election as an independent but was defeated by Ray Williams of the Liberal Party of...
in the New South Wales Parliament since 2007.
- George LafferGeorge LafferGeorge Richards Laffer was an Australian politician. He was member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1913 until 1933, representing the electorate of Alexandra for the Liberal Union, and its successors the Liberal Federation and Liberal and Country League...
– Member of the South Australian House of AssemblySouth Australian House of AssemblyThe House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...
for AlexandraElectoral district of AlexandraAlexandra was an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia from 1902 to 1992. The district included the Fleurieu Peninsula, to the south of Adelaide.Alexandra was renamed Finniss at the 1993 state election....
from 1913–1933. He was SpeakerSpeaker of the South Australian House of AssemblyThe Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly is the presiding officer of the South Australian House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of South Australia...
from 1927 until 1930.
- John LuteyJohn LuteyJohn Thomas Lutey was the Australian Labor Party member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Brownhill-Ivanhoe from 1917 to 1932....
– Member for the Western Australian Legislative AssemblyWestern Australian Legislative AssemblyThe Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
for Brownhill-Ivanhoe, 1917–1932.
- John Holman – Member for the Western Australian Legislative AssemblyWestern Australian Legislative AssemblyThe Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
for North MurchisonElectoral district of North MurchisonNorth Murchison was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1897 to 1904.The district was located in the Western Australian outback. It existed for just two terms of parliament, but had three members and staged two by-elections in that...
, 1901–1904. For the Electoral district of Murchison, 1904–1921. For the Electoral district of ForrestElectoral district of ForrestForrest was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1904 to 1950. It was based in the South West region of the state, in the timber milling areas near the town of Dwellingup....
, 1923–1925. His daughter, May, took over the Forrest seat after his death in 1925.
- May HolmanMay HolmanMary Alice "May" Holman was an Australian politician. She was the first woman in the Australian Labor Party to become a parliamentarian...
– Member for the Western Australian Legislative AssemblyWestern Australian Legislative AssemblyThe Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
for ForrestElectoral district of ForrestForrest was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1904 to 1950. It was based in the South West region of the state, in the timber milling areas near the town of Dwellingup....
, 1925–1939. The daughter of John Holman, she was the second woman to be elected to an Australian parliament and the first female Labour parliamentarian. Holman was a delegate to the League of Nations Assembly in 1930. She died in a car crash on the day of her fourth re-election. Her brother took over the seat after her death.
- Richard BuzacottRichard BuzacottRichard Buzacott , Australian politician, was a Member of the Australian Senate from 1910 to 1923.Commonly known as Dick Buzacott, he was born at Emu Flat, Clare, South Australia on 7 September 1867...
– Member of the Australian SenateAustralian SenateThe Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
for Western Australia, 1910–1923.
- Frederick VosperFrederick VosperFrederick Charles Burleigh Vosper was an Australian newspaper journalist and proprietor, and politician. He was well known for his ardent views and support of Australian republicanism, federalism and trade unionism.-Early life:...
– Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for North-East Coolgardie, 1897–1900. Newspaper journalist and proprietor, he founded The Sunday Times (Western Australia)The Sunday Times (Western Australia)The Sunday Times, owned by News Limited, is a tabloid Sunday newspaper printed in Perth and distributed throughout Western Australia.-History:...
. Born St.Dominic, Cornwall, in 1869.
- Henry DangarHenry DangarHenry Dangar was a surveyor and explorer of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He became a successful pastoralist and businessman, and also served as a magistrate and politician...
– Pastoralist, surveyor and explorer of Australia. Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council for Northumberland, 1845–1851. By 1850 he owned or leased over 300,000 acres (121,406 ha). Born St Neot, Cornwall, in 1796.
- Mark GoldsworthyMark GoldsworthyRoger Mark Goldsworthy is an Australian politician who has been the sitting Liberal member for the electoral district of Kavel since 2002....
– Member of the South Australian House of Assembly for KavelElectoral district of KavelKavel, created in 1969, is an electorate for the South Australian Legislative Assembly in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia.Kavel is named after Lutheran pastor August Kavel who migrated to South Australia from Germany in 1838 with approximately 250 people seeking freedom from religious...
since 2002.
- Ian TreziseIan TreziseIan Douglas Trezise is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since September 1999, representing the seat of Geelong.- Background :...
– Member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Geelong, 1999– . Son of Neil Trezise.
- Baden TeagueBaden TeagueBaden Chapman Teague served as a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1977 until his retirement in 1996.Born in Adelaide, Teague was educated at the University of Adelaide and Cambridge University, where he gained a Ph.D.. He was employed as a university lecturer until he entered the Senate...
– Senator for South Australia 1977–1996.
- Brice MuttonBrice MuttonBrice Mutton was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assemblyfor 9 months in 1949. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia.-Early life:...
– Member of the Parliament of New South Wales for Concord, 1949. Born Lerryn, Cornwall, in 1890.
- Tom UrenTom UrenThomas Uren, AO was a Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party. He helped establish the heritage and conservation movement in Australia and, in particular, worked to preserve the heritage of inner Sydney.-Early life:...
– Member of the Parliament of Australia for Reid, 1958–1990. Various Ministerial roles during the 1970s and 80s. Father of the House of Representatives, 1984–1990. Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party, 1975–1977.
- Nick ChampionNick ChampionNicholas David "Nick" Champion , is the ALP Member of the Australian House of Representatives representing the electorate of Wakefield...
– Member of the Australian House of Representatives for WakefieldDivision of WakefieldThe Division of Wakefield is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of South Australia. It is located north of Adelaide, incorporating the outer northern suburbs of Salisbury and Elizabeth, and extending north as far as Clare. It covers the east coast of the Gulf St Vincent north of...
since 2007.
- Robert BrokenshireRobert BrokenshireRobert "Rob" Lawrence Brokenshire is a South Australian dairy farmer and Member of the 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st, 52nd and current South Australian Parliament. Formerly a real estate broker, Brokenshire was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the South Australian House of Assembly between 1993 and...
– Member of the South Australian Parliament for MawsonElectoral district of MawsonThe Electoral district of Mawson is an electorate for the South Australian House of Assembly. It covers the outer southern suburbs of Woodcroft, Hackham, Hackham West, Huntfield Heights and Noarlunga Downs, as well as the regional shopping centre at Noarlunga as well as the southern wine region...
, 1993–2006. Member of the South Australian Legislative Council for the Family First PartyFamily First PartyThe Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
since 2008.
- Neil TreziseNeil TreziseNeil Benjamin Trezise was an footballer in the VFL and Australian Labor Party politician, of Cornish descent.-Football career:...
– Player and captain for Geelong Football ClubGeelong Football ClubThe Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club, named after and based in the city of Geelong, playing in the Australian Football League . The club has been the VFL/AFL premiers nine times, with a record equalling 3 in the AFL era. Geelong has also...
. Member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Geelong West, 1964–1967, and again for Geelong North, 1967–1992.
- Bob Chynoweth – Member of the Australian Parliament for FlindersDivision of FlindersThe Division of Flinders is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...
, 1983–1984. Member of the Australian Parliament for DunkleyDivision of DunkleyThe Division of Dunkley is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1984 and is named for Louisa Margaret Dunkley, a trade unionist and campaigner for equal pay for women. It is located in...
, 1984–1990, and again 1993–96.
- George PearceGeorge PearceSir George Foster Pearce KCVO was an Australian politician who was instrumental in founding the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia....
– Senator for Western Australia, 1901–1938. Instrumental in founding the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia. Minister for Defence, 1908–1909, 1910–1913, 1914–1921 and again in 1932–1934. Vice-President of the Executive Council, 1926–1929. Various other Ministerial roles during the 1920s and 1930s. Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party, 1915–1916. Leader of the Australian Labor Party in the Senate, 1914–1916. Leader of the National Labor PartyNational Labor PartyThe National Labor Party was the name used by the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes for himself and his followers after he was expelled from the Australian Labor Party in November 1916 over his pro-conscription stance in relation to World War I...
in the Senate, 1916–1917. Leader of the Nationalist PartyNationalist Party of AustraliaThe Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...
in the Senate, 1917–1931. Leader of the United Australia PartyUnited Australia PartyThe United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...
in the Senate, 1931–1937.
- Josiah ThomasJosiah ThomasJosiah Thomas was an Cornish Australian miner and politician.Thomas was born in Camborne, Cornwall, UK and went to Mexico as a child with his father and later worked in mines in Cornwall. He travelled to Australia in the mid-1880s and worked at the Barrier Range, near Broken Hill...
– Member of the Australian Parliament for Barrier, 1901–1917. Senator for New South Wales, 1917–1923 and again 1925–1929. Postmaster-General, 1908–1909 and again 1910–1911. Born in Camborne, in 1863.
- David CharlestonDavid CharlestonDavid Morley Charleston was an Cornish-born Australian politician. Born in Cornwall, he received a primary education before becoming an apprentice engineer, and later an engineering unionist and marine engineer...
– Member of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1891–1901. Senator for South Australia, 1901–1903. President of the Adelaide Trades and Labour Council.
- Harry Kneebone – born to Cornish parents, was an Australian politician. In 1931, he was appointed to the Australian Senate as a Labor Senator for South Australia.
- Richard Orchard – Member of the Australian Parliament for Nepean, 1913–1919. Born in 1871, to Cornish parents, John Henry Orchard, a blacksmith, and his wife Alicia, née Thomas, he died in 1942.
- William HiggsWilliam HiggsWilliam Guy Higgs was an Australian politician.William Higgs was born on 18 January 1862 at Wingham, New South Wales, the son of a Cornish storekeeper, William Guy Higgs....
– Senator for Queensland, 1901–1906. Member of the Australian Parliament for Capricornia, 1910–1922. He was Treasurer of Australia 1915–1916. Born on 1862, the son of a Cornish storekeeper, William Guy Higgs, he died in 1951.
- Jabez Dodd – founder of the Australian Miners Association. a Minister for five years during the Scaddan Government; and a member of the Legislative Council for 18 years. During his period on the Legislative Council, he drafted legislation designed to improve the working conditions of the miners.
Immigration
Early Settlers
During the 18th Century many Cornishmen were employed by the Royal Navy. People like Admiral Edward BoscawenEdward Boscawen
Admiral Edward Boscawen, PC was an Admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall. He is known principally for his various naval commands throughout the 18th Century and the engagements that he won, including the Siege of Louisburg in 1758 and Battle of Lagos...
and Edward Pellew, conscious of their Cornish identity, recruited heavily from their fellow Cornishmen. Samuel Wallis
Samuel Wallis
Samuel Wallis was a Cornish navigator who circumnavigated the world.Wallis was born near Camelford, Cornwall. In 1766 he was given the command of HMS Dolphin to circumnavigate the world, accompanied by the Swallow under the command of Philip Carteret...
, from Lanteglos-by-Camelford, was one of Boscawen's protégés and the first European to discover Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
and Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
in 1767. Cornish naval officers played a major role in the early years of the Australian colony.
- Zachary Hicks – When Captain Cook arrived in Tahiti in June 1769, to observe the transit of Venus, his second-in-command was the Cornishman Lieutenant Zachary Hicks. After six months charting the coast of New Zealand, Cook headed west in search of New Holland as Australia was then known. It was at first light on 19 April 1770 that Hicks spotted land ahead, so it is that the most south-eastern tip of Australia is called Point HicksPoint HicksPoint Hicks, formerly called Cape Everard, is a coastal headland on the eastern coast of Victoria, Australia, located within the Croajingolong National Park.- Name :...
. Cook hugged the coast until they arrived at Botany BayBotany BayBotany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
, where again Hicks came to the forefront. Rowing ashore in two jolly boats, he was the first of the party to set foot on Australian soil.
Governors
After its founding in 1788 two of the first Governors of the New South Wales colony were Cornish.Philip Gidley King
Philip Gidley King
Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
– 3rd Governor, who arrived on the First Fleet as First Lieutenant in Captain Phillips' ship. One of those who went ashore to look for water, he had his first encounter with the Aborigines
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
, offering them beads and mirrors. Botany Bay proving a disappointment, King recommended the location at Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
as an alternative. Ralph Clark, an officer of Marines, compared the new location with the River Tamar
River Tamar
The Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
in Cornwall, 'I cannot compair [sic] any think [sic] to come nearer to it than about 3 miles above Saltash on the Wair.' King and 22 others were sent to colonise Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
. This eventually came to nothing and the island was abandoned in 1806. After a traumatic time on the island King went back to Britain to recuperate, leaving Nicholas Nepean, from Saltash
Saltash
Saltash is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a population of 14,964. It lies in the south east of Cornwall, facing Plymouth over the River Tamar. It was in the Caradon district until March 2009 and is known as "the gateway to Cornwall". Saltash means ash tree by...
, in charge. He returned in November 1791 and in 1800 he became governor of New South Wales. In 1803 he ordered the occupation of Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
as a convict settlement, there he founded Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
named after the town of his birth.
William Bligh
William Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
– 4th Governor, most famous as the victim of the Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
, he was also unfortunate enough to be the victim of a coup d'etat at the hands of the infamous Rum Corps on 26 January 1808. He had tried to reign them in, something King had failed to do, but instead spent the next two years in exile on Van Diemen's Land while the colony was ruled by a military junta. He returned in 1810 when Lachlan Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
was appointed as governor. Shortly afterwards he left Australia for good.
Sir George Arthur – Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, now the State of Tasmania, 1823–1837. At the time Van Diemen's Land was the main British penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
and it was separated from New South Wales in 1825. It was during Arthur's time in office that Van Diemen's Land gained much of its notorious reputation as a harsh penal colony. He selected Port Arthur
Port Arthur, Tasmania
Port Arthur is a small town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. Port Arthur is one of Australia's most significant heritage areas and the open air museum is officially Tasmania's top tourist attraction. It is located approximately 60 km south east of...
as the ideal location for a prison settlement, on a peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
connected by a narrow, easily guarded isthmus
Isthmus
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...
, surrounded by shark-infested seas. He failed in his attempts to reform the colony and the system of penal transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
with Arthur's autocratic and authoritarian rule leading to his recall. By this time he was one of the wealthiest men in the colony. He returned to Britain in 1837.
Convicts
On the First FleetFirst Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
21 Cornish convicts arrived in Australia aboard the Charlotte and Scarborough in 1788. A further twelve were sent in the Second Fleet of 1790, though six died on the way, and sixteen were carried on the Third Fleet of 1791. Some 600 convicts were transported from Cornwall to Australia between 1787 and 1852, 78 per cent of whom were male. Some of the most famous of these included:
- James RuseJames RuseJames Ruse was a Cornish farmer who, at the age of 23, was convicted of breaking and entering and was sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia. He arrived at Sydney Cove on the First Fleet with 18 months of his sentence remaining...
, known as Australia's first farmer, who had been transported from Cornwall in the First fleetFirst FleetThe First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
. Ruse, New South WalesRuse, New South WalesRuse is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Ruse is located 52 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.-History:...
was named after him. As well as being the first to set foot on the colony, he was also given the first land grant. - Mary BryantMary BryantMary Bryant was a Cornish convict sent to Australia. She became one of the first successful escapees from the fledgling Australian penal colony.-Life:...
, the famous female convict and escapee, transported on the First fleet. With her husband and children she became one of the first to successfully escape the colony, though her family all perished along the way. - William BryantWilliam Bryant (convict)William Bryant was a British convict.Bryant was sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay for 7 years. William Bryant was from Cornwall, where he had worked as a fisherman. The fleet of ships left on 13 May 1787. He travelled on the ship the Charlotte in the first fleet...
, a fisherman, husband of Mary, also transported on the First fleet. As a fisherman he was considered useful, and put in charge of looking after the fishing ships. - William Philp, from Padstow in Cornwall, was transported on board the Argyle in 1831 with a life sentence. In 1833 he escaped by stealing the government schooner Badger with several other convicts. They sailed to Manila and then made their way to Macao. In Macao they were identified by a Royal Navy officer who requested their arrest. However the Portugese authorities refused to arrest or deport them and they made their escape. They were never recaptured.
- Joseph HorrocksJoseph HorrocksJoseph Lucas Horrocks was a convict transported to Western Australia in 1852, who established the town of Northampton.Joseph Horrocks was born in Cornwall in 1805...
, founder of the mining town of Gwalla, later renamed Northampton, Western AustraliaNorthampton, Western AustraliaNorthampton is a town north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, the town had a population of 813. It is historic, with an outstanding National Trust building. The town lies on the North West Coastal Highway. Formerly named Gwalla after the location's...
. He took up a land grant of 100 acres which happened to be rich in copper. He developed the mine and brought in Cornish miners to work it. - Moondyne JoeMoondyne JoeJoseph Bolitho Johns , better known as Moondyne Joe, was Western Australia's best known bushranger.- Biography :...
, whose real name was Joseph Bolitho Johns (c. 1826 – 13 August 1900), was Western Australia's best known bushranger. He was convicted of burglary and stealing in 1849 and sentenced to ten years penal servitude. After being moved between several prisons he was transported to Western Australia. Due to his good behaviour he was released on a ticket of leave in 1864. In 1865 he was sentenced to a further ten years for Killing and eating a neighbour's steer, something he denied for the rest of his life. Determined not to serve his sentence he absconded from a work party. He was eventually caught but months later he escaped again. Trying to make his way to South Australia, Johns was again caught. This time he was placed in a specially built "escape-proof" cell in Fremantle PrisonFremantle PrisonFremantle Prison is a former Australian prison located in The Terrace, Fremantle, in Western Australia. The site includes the prison, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and prisoner art...
. Two years later he escaped through a hole he'd made in the prison wall. Keeping quiet and not committing any crimes, Johns managed to evade the law for two more years, but accidentally ran into police while making a robbery in 1869. Moondyne Joe was given a ticket of leave in April 1871.
Mining
The greatest waves of Cornish immigrants to Australia came to mine various minerals including copper, silver and gold. Some of the greatest areas of Cornish settlement are listed below. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries over a third of the Cornish workforce was employed in the mining industry. A mixture of famine and collapses in the mining industry in their native Cornwall forced many thousands of Cornish people to leave their homes from the 1840s. However their skills in hard-rock and metalliferous mining were so sought after that tens of thousands more were sent for over the following decades to build the growing Australian mining industry. This was added to during the gold-rushes, when even more Cornish arrived to seek their fortune.South Australia
Samuel Stephens became the first adult colonist to put foot on South Australian soil when he landed at Nepean Bay on 27 July 1836. He was followed by hundreds of other Cornish people over the following five years. His brother, John Stephens, was active in promoting the new colony within Britain, publishing his book, The Land of Promise, in 1839.Ten percent of the South Australian population has significant Cornish ancestry. Cornish surnames are more heavily concentrated in South Australia where six of the top ten surnames are Cornish.
Internationally renowned Cornish author D. M. Thomas
D. M. Thomas
Donald Michael Thomas, known as D. M. Thomas , is a Cornish novelist, poet, and translator.Thomas was born in Redruth, Cornwall, UK. He attended Trewirgie Primary School and Redruth Grammar School before graduating with First Class Honours in English from New College, Oxford in 1959...
, who spent part of his childhood in Melbourne, visited the town of Truro, South Australia
Truro, South Australia
Truro is a town in South Australia, 80 km northeast of Adelaide. It is on the Sturt Highway east of the Barossa Valley near where the highway crosses the ridge of the Mount Lofty Ranges. The town was laid out in 1847 and 1848 by John Howard Angas, the son of George Fife Angas who had bought...
in the late 20th Century. There, he found that, "Cornwall seemed close ... Cornish miners had come in droves in the last century, and played a large part in founding the state. A High School class to which I read and talked had three children with solidly Cornish names, who knew all about their ancestry."
Copper Triangle
In its heyday Moonta was South Australia's second largest town after Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and was predominately settled by Cornish miners and their families. Today it is known as 'Australia's Little Cornwall'. Along with the other principal towns of Kadina and Wallaroo
Wallaroo
A Wallaroo is any of three closely related species of moderately large macropod, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies. The name "wallaroo" is a portmanteau of wallaby and kangaroo. The term is not generally used by Australians...
in the northern Yorke Peninsula
Yorke Peninsula
The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located north-west and west of Adelaide in South Australia, Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. It has geographic coordinates of...
this mining area became known as the Copper Triangle and was a significant source of prosperity for South Australia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today Moonta is most famous for its traditional Cornish pasties and its Cornish style miner's cottages and mine engine houses such as Richman's and Hughes engines houses built in the 1860s. Many streets and houses have Cornish names. Many descendants of these Cornish families bearing their Cornish surnames still live in the Copper Triangle and the area is intensely proud of its Cornish heritage. Many of the original miners cottages made from wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
still stand and are still lived in by local residents. Many Cornish subsiquently left the area during the Victorian and Western Australian gold-rushes.
Kapunda
Copper was discovered in Kapunda in the 1840s, coinciding with the Cornish potato famine which led to many Cornish people emigrating to the town.
Adelaide Hills
Copper was discovered at Montacute, in the Adelaide Hills
Adelaide Hills
The Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is unofficially centred on the largest town in the area, Mount Barker, which has a population of around 29,000 and is also one of Australia's fastest growing towns.- History :The...
, soon after Kapunda, and Cornish miners were in the forefront of this development.
Burra Burra
The Burra
Burra, South Australia
Burra is a pastoral centre and historic tourist town in the mid-north of South Australia. It lies east of the Clare Valley in the Bald Hills range, part of the northern Mount Lofty Ranges, and on Burra Creek. The town began as a single company mining township that, by 1851, was a set of townships ...
mine, or 'the Monster' as it was colloquially known, acted like a magnet to the Cornish in Australia. Discovered in 1845, it proved to be an incredibly rich mine, sparking a new wave of immigration to South Australia. The main township is called Redruth after Redruth
Redruth
Redruth is a town and civil parish traditionally in the Penwith Hundred in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has a population of 12,352. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road , and is approximately west of...
in Cornwall.
Victoria
The Cornish played an important role in the development of the Victorian goldfields.Bendigo
In 1881 46.9 percent of fathers and 41.4 percent of mothers in Bendigo were born in Cornwall. This was in addition to those Cornish who were born in Australia or places as far afield as Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
or Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. The Cornish in Bendigo outnumbered the combined strength of their Irish and Scottish counterparts.
Ballarat
Along with Bendigo, Ballarat was one of the major Cornish mining settlements in Victoria.
Geelong
Many Cornish settled in Geelong, especially after the decline of the gold-fields.
Broken Hill
Many Moonta and Bendigo Cornish took up mining in Broken Hill. The Cornish presence in Broken Hill
Broken Hill, New South Wales
-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...
was bolstered by Cornish American
Cornish American
Cornish Americans are citizens of the United States who describe themselves as having Cornish ancestry. Cornish ancestry is not recognised on the United States Census, although the Cornish people are recognised as a separate ethnic group and national identity for the United Kingdom Census...
miners from Nevada, who brought with them better technology for working in the silver-lead sulphide deposits.
Western Australia
There were Cornish mining copper in Western Australia from the 1840s, but this was increased with the discovery of gold.Coolgardie
Once the third largest town in Western Australia, Coolgardie
Coolgardie, Western Australia
Coolgardie is a small town in the Australian state of Western Australia, east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 800 people....
attracted the Cornish during the 1890s to mine gold.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder
The city of Kalgoorlie with Boulder
Boulder, Western Australia
Boulder was a town in the Western Australian goldfields east of Perth and bordering onto the town of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields region. Until 1989 it was part of its own municipality. In 1989 the towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder were merged to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder...
attracted great numbers of Cornish both from within and outside Australia, due to their extensive goldfields.
Murchison River
Cornish miners worked at the Geraldine mine in Western Australia and the nearby town of Northampton. Their produce was shipped out of Port Gregory, Western Australia
Port Gregory, Western Australia
Gregory is a small town and fishing port in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, Gregory had a population of 46.Port Gregory, located close to the mouth of the Hutt River, was established in 1849 and named after brothers Augustus and Frank Gregory, two of Western...
in small vessels like the tramp steamer SS Xantho
SS Xantho
Powered by a horizontal trunk engine, SS Xantho was a steam ship used in the colony of Western Australia as a pearling transport and mothership, as a tramp steamer, carrying passengers, including Aboriginal convicts and trade goods before she sank at Port Gregory, Western Australia in 1872.The...
and then transhipped to the port of Geraldton where it was loaded onto wool ships bound for England as a form of 'paying ballast'.
Cornish associations
There are many Cornish associations in Australia, as there are around the world. The Cornish Association of South Australia is the oldest, being run continuously since 1890. Others include The Cornish Association of Bendigo and District, The Cornish Association of New South Wales, Southern Sons of Cornwall inc., The Cornish Association of Queensland, The Cornish Association of North Yorke Peninsula, The Cornish Association of Tasmania, The Cornish Association of Victoria, and The Cornish Association of Western Australia.Names
There are many names of businesses and places in Australia that are named after Cornish people and places.Businesses
- Leggo's – producers of Italian style foods. Named after founder Henry Madren Leggo, whose parents came from Cornwall.
- Fletcher JonesFletcher JonesSir Fletcher Jones OBE was an Australian clothing manufacturer and retailer, and a pioneer in workforce participation...
– Australia wide clothing manufacturer and retailer, founded by Fletcher Jones the son of a Cornish miner from Bendigo.
Named after Cornish places
- Launceston, TasmaniaLaunceston, TasmaniaLaunceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
– named by Governor King after his home town of Launceston, Cornwall.
Named after Cornish people
- Point HicksPoint HicksPoint Hicks, formerly called Cape Everard, is a coastal headland on the eastern coast of Victoria, Australia, located within the Croajingolong National Park.- Name :...
, named after Zachary HickesZachary HickesZachary Hickes was a Royal Navy officer, second-in-command on Lieutenant James Cook's voyage to the east coast of Australia. Hickes spelt his name with an "e", but it has often been written by others as Hicks without the "e".Hickes was 29 and held the rank of lieutenant when appointed to Cook's...
, the first to see the mainland of Australia on Cook's voyage in the Endeavour in 1768. - Point Piper, named after Captain John PiperJohn Piper (military officer)John Piper was a military officer, public servant and landowner in the colony of New South Wales.Piper was born in Maybole, Ayrshire Scotland, son of Hugh Piper, a doctor; his family came from Cornwall. He was commissioned as an ensign in the New South Wales Corps in 1791, and sailed on the...
.
Places named after Evan Nepean
Evan Nepean
Sir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet PC was a British politician and colonial administrator.-Early career:...
, a Cornish politician in the late eighteenth century. The name "Nepean" is thought to come from Nanpean (“the head of the valley”), in Cornish:
- Nepean RiverNepean RiverThe Nepean River is a river in the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia.The headwaters of the Nepean River rise near Robertson, about 100 kilometres south of Sydney and about 15 kilometres from the coast. The river flows north in an unpopulated water catchment area into Nepean Dam, which...
in New South Wales, Australia - Nepean HighwayNepean HighwayNepean Highway runs south from the centre of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia to Portsea, along the eastern shore of Port Phillip. It is the primary road route to central Melbourne from Melbourne's southern suburbs.- History :...
southeast of Melbourne, Australia - Point Nepean, VictoriaPoint Nepean, VictoriaPoint Nepean marks the southern point of The Rip and the most westerly point of the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia. It was named after the British politician and colonial administrator, Sir Evan Nepean. It is within the suburb of Portsea...
, an outer suburb of Melbourne at the end of the highway - Electoral district of NepeanElectoral district of NepeanThe Electoral district of Nepean is an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Assembly covering the southern most part of the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. It is named after Point Nepean which is contained within the electorate....
, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia - Nepean Island (Norfolk Island)Nepean Island (Norfolk Island)Nepean Island is a small uninhabited island located at, about 1 km south off a golf course on Norfolk Island in the Southwest Pacific. It was named in 1788 by Lieutenant Philip Gidley King for Evan Nepean, Under Secretary of the Home Department of the United Kingdom...
, Southwest Pacific - Nepean Island, Queensland, one of the Torres Strait islands
- Nepean Bay where the South Australia CompanySouth Australia CompanyThe South Australian Company was formed in London on 9 October 1835 by George Fife Angas and other wealthy British merchants to develop a new settlement in South Australia; its purpose was to build a new colony...
came to KingscoteKingscote, South Australia- Facilities :Kingscote has a school offering years 1 to 12, a hospital, supermarket, post office and Government offices. It is the administrative centre for the Kangaroo Island Council, whose offices have recently undergone a significant upgrade....
, Kangaroo IslandKangaroo IslandKangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...
, South Australia
Places named after Henry Dangar
Henry Dangar
Henry Dangar was a surveyor and explorer of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He became a successful pastoralist and businessman, and also served as a magistrate and politician...
:
- Mount Dangar
- Dangarfield
- Dangar Falls
- Dangarsleigh, New South WalesDangarsleigh, New South WalesDangarsleigh is a minor trigonometrical station, parish and rural locality about 11 km south east of Armidale, New South Wales. The locality is at an altitude of about 1,020 metres on the Northern Tablelands in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The name Dangarsleigh...