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Page 2 of 2 The Pearce family story has been traced as far back as 1725 in west Cornwall but this celebration began with the family of Richard Pearce who was born in Lelant near St. Ives in 1801. He married his wife Jane Cuttance (sometimes given as Cuttings in the old registers) in her home Parish Church of Mylor in 1830, and raised a family including four sons, at least three of whom emigrated to the mining areas in New South Wales. Richard Pearce was the first brother to leave Cornwall. He arrived in Australia in 1854 and sadly died at the young age of 31, unmarried and with no children. The second brother, John Cuttance Pearce arrived a year later, married Lucy Edwards Derrett in Orange, raised a family and later moved to Charters Towers. A third brother, Thomas Taldor Pearce also went to Australia at some stage and in 1866 married Priscilla Derrett, a sister to his brother’s wife. There may also have been a fourth brother, Michael Pearce, who went to Australia, but at present, his life story is a bit of a mystery. I was pleased to help out last year with some research into the Cornish side of this family and provide a lot of information which filled in some of the gaps in the family knowledge. This reunion had its own website and an itinerary which included a river trip on the Brisbane River, a Church service and even a 3km or 6km walk or run for those attending the reunion. Now you don’t have to be that energetic to attend a family reunion but it is an excellent way of getting to know everyone over a brisk walk and a drink in one of the several bars and coffee houses which were situated along the route… excellently planned route I would say!! The name of Pearce is quite a common one here in Cornwall with several main branches spread across the County but if your Pearce ancestry goes back to the Lelant area around 1800, then I am sure that your distant cousins over in the Brisbane area will be delighted to hear from you. Just e-mail me or Cornish World and I will give you more details. Another name not so common in Cornwall as the name of Pearce is Sobey or Sobye as it is sometimes given. If you are a Sobey or have Sobey connections then you might like to know about a reunion taking place in Stellarton, Nova Scotia in September this year. Again there is a website at: www.sobeyreunion.com with a comprehensive and again optionally athletic itinerary.. this time a golf tournament.. as well as talks by family members and guests. This is the second Worldwide Sobey reunion, the first was in Falmouth here in Cornwall in 1999 when over 90 Sobeys from seven different countries attended. The Sobey family history has been traced back in Cornwall for well over seven hundred years, originating in St. Kew in east Cornwall. There is also firm evidence that the name was in Cornwall at an even earlier date and that it is in fact derived from the Danish word “Sobye” meaning “town by the lake”. Cornish Vikings of the dark ages? Was it the River Camel which led the original Sobey clan upstream to the St. Kew area where they settled, gave the area a Danish name which later evolved into their family name? We may never know for certain as there is no written record but quite often family names are derived from place names. The family were mainly ordinary working folk, miners, farmers and labourers but one of over 4,500 names currently on the Sobey family tree is William Rawlings Sobey who, in the early 19th century established a silversmiths and clockmakers business in Exeter, Devon. Pieces of early Victorian Sobey silverware can be found today on internet auction sites as well as at some of the top London salerooms, such as Bonhams. Not bad for a man from a lowly Cornish working family. I wonder what William would have made of the internet? Another Sobey well worth a mention is Sharon Sobey from Australia who, although blind, has dedicated herself to the service of others through the Canberra Blind Society and was privileged to be selected to help carry one of the large flags at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, guided by her guide dog. Nova Scotia has been selected for the reunion to honour another member of the Sobey family descended from another William Sobey. Originally from a branch of the family who moved from Cornwall to Colebrook in Devon, this William joined the Royal Engineers in 1855, from where he was discharged some twenty years later at the rank of Staff Sergeant. He moved to Nova Scotia, married there and bought some farm land with his military savings. His son, John moved to Stellarton and set up a meat retailing business, selling door to door around the area. The next generation included Frank Sobey, son of John who left school at an early age to join his father’s meat selling business. Frank had a flair for business and soon persuaded his father to increase the number of selling lines in the business and today this has grown into a chain of over 1,300 supermarkets across the whole length and breadth of Canada. Frank was also responsible for building a chain of cinemas, movie theatres as they are known “across the pond”, as well as having substantial holdings in other types of property. I am well informed that anyone attending can view a 129 foot long family tree. Is that some sort of record? If you are one of the thirty or so Sobeys listed currently in the Cornwall phone book, or have other Sobey connections, even if you can’t get to Canada in September there is a welcome for you at the website or I can give further details if you are not online and can write to me to let me know of your interest. I am always pleased to hear about any family history related matters and my thanks to those who have taken the time to write to me direct or through Cornish World giving details of their Cornish connections. I am sorry if sometimes they don’t appear in the magazine right away but space is limited. I really need to sit down and write a book…. now there’s a thought!! Bob Richards Cornwall Family Finders e-mail: bobr.stkilda@dsl.pipex.com |
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