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| The Cornishman who saved Queen Victoria |
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Page 1 of 4 Cornish Family History Research Historian Bob Richards unearths some interesting chapters in the records of two Cornish families The Cornishman who saved Queen Victoria Well, here we are again; another year flown by and Christmas upon us. I don’t suppose there are many of us who have not written cards, bought presents and generally got involved in all the trappings of the festive season. These days we can send cards, emails and text messages, even send videos of ourselves by telephone in seconds to anyone anywhere in the world; but what of our Cornish ancestors? Not for them the luxuries of our modern global communications network. I wonder what Cousin Jack would have said to you back in the 1870s, as he sat thinking deeply and watching the flames rise from his Christmas log fire in Grass Valley or Wisconsin or wherever else he hauled up, if you had said to him that his great grandchildren would be holding a small machine in the palm of their hand, talking to their friends and family back home in Cornwall. I daresay he would have chewed a bit more off the end of his best clay pipe, tossed another log on the fire and mumbled something quietly under his beard about you being away with the fairies…or even something rather impolite.  Top photo: William John Trounce, born Penzance 1843, ship broker in France and later in Cardiff, where he became a member of the City Council in 1878 and Lord Mayor of Cardiff in 1893. He died in 1918. Bottom left: Thomas Plomer Trounce, born 1853, joined the Imperial Bank in 1872 and later became Justice of the Peace in Waltham Abbey and a district councillor there, he died in 1903. Bottom right: Henry Trounce, born 1868, died in 1932, he was long time editor of the Daily Gazette in London. Yet here we are, and the living proof was in my mailbox just days after the last issue of Cornish World went global. I received quite a few emails and even the odd letter, telling of some of the folk who left Cornwall back in the 19th century and what happened to them. |
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