'ON THIS DAY' FEATURES
Welcome to the On This Day section of our website where we aim to provide an article for every day of the year. The listing below gives you the 10 most recent articles but using the tools provided you can also filter the database to give more precise results. You can filter by Place or Location or Both or if you need something more precise or flexible you can use our free text-search facility.


Results per page: 

Page 1 of 2
  
>>
46 Features
Sir Vyell's Stamps in Trewellard   (25 December 1724)

On Christmas Day 1724 Sir Francis Vyvyan of Trelowaren leased a decayed stamping mill in Trewellard to Sibella Hichens, John Ustick and John Dennard. The property was known as Sir Vyell's Stamps......

The Cape Cornwall Pillar of Fire   (12 December 1846)

"A pillar of fire, exceedingly vivid and apparently the thickness of a man's arm" between sea and sky where it spread out with “splendid coruscations followed by a terrific peal of thunder”. Not a performance of Elijah in the St Just Wesleyan but an electrical storm.....

Stalking Bolitho   (8 December 1893)

Stalking is not a new offence it seems thought the term was not used to describe what happened to St Ives MP T.B. Bolitho in the early 1890s.

Batten Resigns from Levant Mine   (7 November 1849)

The name Batten had been synonymous with Levant since the reopening in 1820 but in 1849 John Batten IV brought the association to an end.....

Lords Leave Levant Leaseless   (29 October 1869)

There's something fishy about the closure and reopening of Levant Mine in 1871, and it's nothing to do with being under the sea..............

Disaster at Levant Mine   (20 October 1919)

The second worst accident in the history of mining in Cornwall happened at Levant Mine on 20th October 1919. Thirty one men were killed and 19 were recorded as injured when the Levant man engine rod crashed down the shaft carrying with it its human cargo of miners coming up to grass from the morning core.

The First Mineralogical Map of St Just   (9 October 1821)

On the 9th October 1821 Joseph Carne presented a paper to the Annual Meeting the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall on the Mineral Productions and the Geology of St Just. The paper included the first mineralogical map of the St Just Mining District.

The Opening of the St Just Wesleyan Methodist Chapel   (27 September 1833)

The St Just Wesleyan Chapel is a huge place, in its day it regularly hosted congrations in excess of 1000 people. Opened in 1833 it is a monument to a cultural moment which has now passed in into history but the iconic building still seems to draw the people......

The Wildman of Levant Mine   (26 September 1876)

100 degrees fahrenheit, high humidity, low oxygen, quarter of a mile out under the Atlantic ocean and about 1500 feet beneath the ocean floor. Why would anyone want to go to such a place...............

A Pendeen Boy's Call-up - Richard Trathen - A Diaspora Story   (22 September 1917)

Today is the 100th anniversary of the day Richard Trathen was called up to serve in the army. Not the British Army, Richard Trathen was a Pendeen boy who gone to Grass valley, California in search of work and the joining the U.S. Army. 

Alacrity at Portheras Cove, Pendeen   (13 September 1963)

M.V. Alacrity ran aground at Portheras Cove on 13 September 1963. She has remained a topic of interest ever since.......

The Loss of the William Cory   (5 September 1910)

In his history of Levant Mine, Cyril Noall provides a brief outline of the wreck of the William Cory

on 5th September 1910. The wreck proved to be a bit of a windfall for the mine but how did the William Cory come to run aground on a calm day with excellent visibility?

 

Registration of the While an Cruen Ton Gwynn tinworks at Calartha, St Just.   (3 September 1502)

Between 1498 and 1508 the itinerant Stannary Court at Lelant registered at least 10 St Just tinbounds. While an Cruen ton Gwynn was registered on 3rd September 1502.

Death of Frances Oats in South Africa   (1 September 1918)

Francis Oats died in Port Elizabeth aged 69 on 1st September 1918. In St Just today his most lasting monument is the the house he build overlooking Cape Cornwall – Porthledden House – built in the years 1907-1909.

Dedication of the St Just War Memorial   (30 August 1931)

On Sunday 30th August 1931 the St Just War Memorial was dedicated. Why did St Just have to wait so long for a public memorial to its war dead?

John Leggo's War   (23 August 1914)

Private John Leggo of St Just was killed on 23 August 1914, the British army's first day of fighting on the Western Front. He was 24 years old, one of the first of many Cornishmen to die in World War One, a war which saw 7.2 million battlefield deaths.

Botallack: Tourist Destination of the 1860s   (17 August 1868)

When R.M. Ballantyne, celebrated author of boys' adventure stories such as Coral Island, went underground at Botallack on 17th August 1868 he was just one of many to visit the wonder mine of the west and sign the sign the Vistors Book.

Water Pressure Engine for sale at Wheal Cock   (5 August 1836)

On 5 August 1836 the West Briton advertised the sale of Wheal Cock Mine, St Just, drained by a water pressure engine with a 40 fathom head of water.

 

Britain Declares War on Germany   (4 August 1914)

On 4th Auhust 1914, as clocks around the country struck 11pm, Britain entered into a state of war with Germany. At 11.02pm First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, send a telegram to the Fleet, “Commence hostilities against Germany”.

A New Face in St Just   (30 July 1743)

In 1744 it was said that St Just  was "so very populous…..it is impossible to know the exact number..” Rapid expansion in mining was attracting lots of incomers to the district, but not all were miners......

Disaster Averted, Lost Miners Return......from the sea......   (21 July 1927)

Miners in St Just have a tradition of doing a bit of fishing to help put food on the table but a man who can find his way around underground in virtual darkness can be hard pressed on an ebb tide in a thick fog and so it proved for four pards fishing out of Priests Cove......

Wesley v Usticke in St Just   (3 July 1745)

The Wesley brothers visited St Just on more than 30 occasions but John Wesley's encounter with Squire Stephen Usticke of Botallack is one of the more bizarre events to arise from these frequent visitations of west Cornwall.....

Astronomy, Antiquities and Appetite   (26June)

The convinced, curious, the frankly sceptical:  all have gathered today at Tregeseal to listen to a report of the latest antiquarian enquiries based upon the work of Sir Norman Lockyer.

Which Richard White was Buried in Levant Mine?   (19 June 1840)

who was the unfortunate Richard White who was buried in 1840?

William Maddern Eddy - missing in action   (7 June 1917)

William Maddern Eddy, Private 54172 Durham Light Infantry, son of John and Constance Eddy of Carnyorth. Born 1897, missing presumed dead 7 June 1917. 



Results per page: 



Page 1 of 2
  
>>


Penwith Local History Group

c/o Morrab Library
Morrab Gardens
Penzance, Cornwall
TR18 4DA






Penwith Local History Group, Penzance, Cornwall
Penwith Local History Group
Penzance, Cornwall



The Morrab Library showing the new extension
The Morrab Library showing the new extension.
Photo Glyn Richards



<br>Marazion from St Michael's Mount., Penwith Local History Group
This month's featured photograph:

Marazion from St Michael's Mount.

Photograph by Ted Mole

Click on the photo above to view more photos
<br>Coastline near Zennor., Penwith Local History Group<br>Chysauster looking east to Mulfra Hill., Penwith Local History Group<br>St Michael's Mount from the Coast Path by Penzance station., Penwith Local History Group<br>Greenburrow Engine House, Ding Dong Mine., Penwith Local History Group<br>Marazion from St Michael's Mount, Trencrom on skyline., Penwith Local History Group<br>Three of the Nine Maidens, Zennor Hill in background., Penwith Local History Group<br>Levant Mine from the south showing the leat in the foreground, left to right the calciner, stamps and compressor stacks and the whim and pumping engine houses in the centre with the Skip Shaft headframe., Penwith Local History Group<br>Higher Bal, Levant Mine. Engine house for dual purpose pumping and winding engine. Stonecrop in foreground., Penwith Local History Group<br>Causeway to St Michael's Mount on the ebb tide., Penwith Local History Group<br>Men-an-Tol., Penwith Local History Group<br>The Nine Maidens Stone Circle., Penwith Local History Group