Society of Genealogists - England: Cornwall Resources

Cornwall

Shelf Mark: CO

For an explanation of this information, please consult the Introduction and the list of Abbreviations. Recent additions to the Society's Library are listed in the Genealogists' Magazine. The staff of the Society are able to make limited searches in these County Sources for a standard fee. Shelf marks used in the library are given in square brackets at the very end of each title.

County-wide sources:

General Registers
Marriage Licences
Monumental Inscriptions
Censuses
Directories & Poll Books
Periodicals
Wills
Parishes: A-C | D-K | L-M | N-R | S | T-Z

General Registers

County wide sources for Christenings, Marriages and Burials for Cornwall include:

County sources at the Society of Genealogists: Cornwall [&] Devon parish registers, nonconformist registers, marriage licences, monumental inscriptions. London: SoG, 2002 [ML enquiry counter] Buy this book from the SoG on-line bookshop.

National index of parish registers, vol. 8, part 4: Cornwall. London: SoG, 1999. [TB/PR] Buy this book from the SoG on-line bookshop.

Guide to the parish & non-parochial registers of Devon & Cornwall 1538-1837: Devon & Cornwall Record Society extra series, vol. 2 [CO/R 66 & DE/PER]

List of 258 Cornish parishes and the date coverage of registers - copies, transcripts etc. and where they are held: Cornish roots! [CD-ROM] [Apply to staff]

List of Methodist registers [in Cornwall Record Office] [Box 10/folder 7]

Local research sources for baptisms, marriages & burials in Cornwall, with maps: Cornwall Family History Society guides, vol. 1 [CO/G 48]

Boyd’s marriage index 1538-c.1837 [Typescript]. [UK/REG] Most of this marriage index is also available on the Origins Network.

International Genealogical Index & addendum [CD-ROM] [Apply to staff] & available on-line at Family Search

British Vital Records Index [CD-ROM] [Apply to staff]

National Burial Index. 2nd edn. [CD-ROM] [Apply to staff]

Out of area collection 1, 1975-76 [UK/REG]

RG 7 Fleet marriage register indexes [parishes, brides & grooms] [SP/REG]

Births, deaths & marriages from Devon & West of England newspapers, 1842-46 [with some Devon deeds, 1808-30] [Devonshire tracts box]

CORNWALL: M(I) 1813-37 [Typescript.] [CO/R 117-119]

CORNWALL: M index to Phillimore's parish register series [CO/R 77]

CORNWALL (Methodist, Baptist, Independent & Bible Christians): Z 1769-1851, B 1806-37 held at the Public Record Office [CD-ROM.] [CD-ROM cabinet (CO/REG)]

Devonshire press cuttings, register abstracts & miscellaneous antiquarian notes formerly shelved with the D/MSS now photocopied & rebound [covers Cornwall places L-W & Devon places A-L; includes many parish register extracts & family histories] [Microfilm.] [Mf 2714]

Heraldic church notes from Cornwall: containing all the heraldry & genealogical particulars on every memorial in 10 churches in the Deanery of East, with copious extracts from the parish registers, annotated with notes from wills, etc. [Store A (HER/ARM)]

An index of stray registrations, vol. 2 [M extracts (I) 1649-1825 Cornwall entries] [UK/REG]

Index to Cornish nonconformist registers deposited at the Public Record Office [Typescript.] [CO/R 28]

Index to Cornish transcripts at Exeter & Bodmin, reprinted from the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, no. 58 [CO/R 33]

Quaker burials: B(I) 1813-37: Cornwall burial index 1813-37 [CO/R 10 I]

Quaker digest registers of births, marriages & burials - Cornwall Quarterly Meeting: Z 1609-1837 & 1647-1805, M 1657-1836 & 1659-1798, B 1656-1837 & 1659-1777 [Microfilm.] [Mf 3389]

Quaker marriages 1659-1833 (marriages from south east Cornwall, mainly the Liskeard & St. Germans areas) : Cornwall marriages [Typescript.] [CO/R 105]

Transcripts of parish registers, Bishops' transcripts etc, in the possession of the Devon & Cornwall Society [with MS corrections to 1954] [Devonshire tracts box]

"Tre" names from Cornish parish registers [Typescript.] [Summer Palace shelves]

West country names mentioned in the Sherborne & Yeovil Mercury [Western Flying Post] 1773-78: Somerset newspaper indexes 1773-78 & 1831-32 [Computer printout.] [SO/G 76]

Marriage Licences

Marriage licences: abstracts & indexes in the Library of the Society of Genealogists. London: SoG, 1991. 4th edn. [ML enquiry counter] Buy this book from the SoG on-line bookshop.

Faculty Office marriage licences index 1701-1850 [Typescript.] [ML/FO] Buy this book from the SoG on-line bookshop or search it on-line at the Origins Network

Vicar-General marriage licences surname index 1694-1850 [Typescript.] [ML/VG] Buy this book from the SoG on-line bookshop or search it on-line at the Origins Network

16th century marriages (1538-1600) [Store A (UK/REG)]

Indices to Vivian's Exeter marriage licences, 1523-1631 [Typescript.] [ML/EXE]

The marriage licences of the Diocese of Exeter, 1523-1631 from the Bishop's registers [ML/EXE]

The marriage licences of the Diocese of Exeter, vols. 1-12: 1631-1762 [Typescript.] [ML/EXE]

Out of area collection 1 [UK/REG]

Monumental Inscriptions

County wide sources for tombstone inscriptions (MIs) include:

A complete parochial history of the county of Cornwall, vols. 1-4 [Store A]

Cornwall's churchyard heritage [Cornwall tracts box]

Cornwall FHS monumental inscriptions, vol. 1-20 with master index [Computer printout.] [CO/M 11-13]

The indents of lost monumental brasses in Cornwall, Devonshire & Somerset [Typescript.] [CO/M 2]

The monumental brasses of Cornwall: 62 illustrative plates with descriptive, genealogical & heraldic notes [CO/M 3]

8. Monumental inscriptions from 11 parishes in Cornwall, Berks, Bucks, Lincs, Middx & Yorks [Manuscript.] [MI/GEN]

Why do we mourn? A collection of poetical epitaphs found in Cornish Methodist burial grounds: Cornish Methodist Historical Association Occasional Publication, no. 23 [CO/PER]

Censuses

In addition to free access from within the library to census returns and indexes on various subscription web sites, the Society holds many locally produced indexes. The latter are essential where an Internet index has mis-transcribed a name which you are looking for and for surviving pre-1841 censuses and census substitutes.

Search the on-line catalogue for the following Subject phrase:

CORNWALL - CENSUSES

Click on the green Go button and then on the subject term for the required census.

Directories & Poll Books

The Society’s collection is of national importance and includes county and local directories of residents and businesses and poll books and other lists of voters in parliamentary and local elections. Details, correct as of 1995, are published in:

Directories & poll books, including almanacs & electoral rolls, in the Library of the Society of Genealogists. SoG, 1995. 6th edn. [ML enquiry counters] Buy this book from the SoG on-line bookshop.

Or search the on-line catalogue for the following Subject phrase:

CORNWALL - DIRECTORIES

or CORNWALL - POLL BOOKS

Click on the green Go button and then on the subject term required.

Periodicals

The Society holds the journals of most English-speaking family history societies world-wide, the publications of county record societies and many national and local history societies past and present.

Search the on-line catalogue for the Title required

Wills

The Library contains film copies of indexes to wills proved 1858-1930 and indexes, calendars and many abstracts of wills proved by individual church courts before 1858. Details, correct as of 1996, are published in:

Will indexes & other probate material in the library of the Society of Genealogists. London: SoG, 1996 [WILLS/GEN] Buy this book from the SoG on-line bookshop.

Other major sources include:

An index to the wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury 1750-1800 [WILLS/PCC] Buy this book from the SoG on-line bookshop or search it on-line at the Origins Network. An index to all PCC wills 1384-1858 is available on-line at The National Archive.

Estate Duty will indexes 1796-1857 (IR 27/1-323) [Microfilm] [Wills film cabinets] The Death Duty registers 1796-1903 are also on-line at findmypast.com

An index to the Bank of England will extracts 1807-45 [WILLS/GEN] Buy this book from the SoG on-line bookshop or search it on-line at the Origins Network

For the most up-to-date list of will material in the library, do a Subject search on the on-line catalogue for the name of the church court eg. Biggleswade Peculiar Court

Or if you do not know the name of the church court:

Search the on-line catalogue for the following Subject phrase:

COUNTY NAME <space> <hyphen> <space> GENERAL:WILLS

e.g. CORNWALL - GENERAL:WILLS

Click on the green Go button and then on the subject term required.

Parishes

A-C

SOGCAT On-line Catalogue