Cornish surnames and personal names remain common, and are often distinct from English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Manx names, although there is a similarity to the related Welsh and Breton names in many instances. Similarly, the majority of place names in Cornwall are still Brittonic. The
Cornish language had died out as a primary spoken language by the end of the 18th century, but a revival of the tongue has been ongoing since the early 20th century.
The coincidence of the decline of the
mining industry in
Cornwall in the 19th century and the discovery of large amounts of mineral deposits abroad meant that Cornish families headed overseas for work. Each decade between 1861 and 1901, a fifth of the entire Cornish male population migrated abroad – three times the average for England and
Wales. In total, the county lost over a quarter of a million people between 1841 and 1901.[5]
Large numbers of Cornish people moved to the United States, and while some stayed in New York City and other
East Coast ports after arriving, many moved inland to mining areas in
California,
Wisconsin,
Pennsylvania and
Michigan. One such area was
Mineral Point, Wisconsin, in which the largest group of immigrants were Cornish miners attracted to the lead mining opportunities, and by 1845 roughly half of the town's population had Cornish ancestry.[6] Today the
Cornish town of
Redruth is twinned with Mineral Point.
In
California, statues and monuments in many towns pay tribute to the influence of the Cornish on their development.[9] In the city of
Grass Valley, the tradition of singing Cornish carols lives on and one local historian of the area says the songs have become "the identity of the town". Some of the members of today's Cornish Carol Choir are in fact descendants of the original Cornish gold miners. The city holds
St Piran's Day celebrations every year, which along with carol singing, includes a
flag raising ceremony, games involving the Cornish pasty, and
Cornish wrestling competitions.[10] The city is twinned with
Bodmin in Cornwall.
Cornish immigrant miners are depicted in the TV series Deadwood, speaking their
native language, even though Cornish had died out in the 18th century before a revival in the 20th century; the actors in the relevant scenes are, in fact, speaking
Irish, a fellow Celtic language, but not mutually intelligible as Irish/Gaelic is from a different branch of the
Celtic languages, whereas Cornish being much closer to, and a part of the same branch, as the still thriving
Welsh and
Breton, and the now extinct Brittonic languages of Great Britain such as
Cumbric and
Pictish.[21]
Legends of the Fall, a novella by American author
Jim Harrison, detailing the lives of a Cornish American family in the early 20th century, contains several Cornish language terms. These were also included in the Academy Award-winning film of the same name starring
Anthony Hopkins as Col. William Ludlow and
Brad Pitt as Tristan Ludlow.[22]
Jayne Mansfield – an American actress working both on Broadway and in Hollywood. Her ancestors moved from Cornwall to
Pen Argyl to work slate[25] Her daughter is the actress
Mariska Hargitay
William Williams – a Cornish immigrant to
Saint Paul, Minnesota who was convicted of the 1905 murders of his
homosexual lover and the latter's mother. His hanging was botched and Williams remains the last person executed by the State of
Minnesota
Elizabeth Arden – Florence Nightingale Graham (December 31, 1884 – October 18, 1966), who went by the business name Elizabeth Arden, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United States. At the peak of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world. Her mother was Cornish, her father Scottish, having met in Cornwall[32]
Harry S. Truman – Truman, the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953), may have been a descendant of the Cornish
Tremayne family although he himself disliked this theory, preferring an Anglo-Saxon origin. The President said that he believed the "Tremaine thing is a lot of bunk" but conceded, "Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway as I've told you so long as we don't find Captain Kidd, Morgan the Pirate or J.P. [Morgan] either, for that matter, in 'the line' I'm satisfied."[33]
Franklin D. Roosevelt – the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1945), was, like Hayes, a descendant of Thomas Burgess, whose grandmother happened to be a Trethewey[35]
^Ancestors of American Presidents, Gary Boyd Roberts, Published by Carl Boyer III, 1995, Santa Clara CA, p 44
^Ancestors of American Presidents, Gary Boyd Roberts, Published by Carl Boyer III, 1995, Santa Clara CA, p275
Further reading
Cornish, Joseph H. The History and Genealogy of the Cornish Families in America. Higginson Book Company. 2003. ASIN: B0006S85H6.
Ewart, Shirley. Highly Respectable Families: the Cornish of Grass Valley, California 1854-1954 (Nevada County Pioneers Series). Comstock Bonanza Press. October 1998.
ISBN978-0-933994-18-8.
Magnaghi, Russell M. Cornish in Michigan (Discovering the Peoples of Michigan Series). Michigan State University Press. October 2007.
ISBN978-0-87013-787-7.
Todd, Arthur C. The Cornish Miner in America: the Contribution to the Mining History of the United States by Emigrant Cornish Miners: the Men Called Cousin Jacks. Arthur H. Clark (publisher). September 1995.
ISBN978-0-87062-238-0.
White, Helen M. Cornish Cousins of Minnesota, Lost and Found: St. Piran's Society of Minnesota. Minnesota Heritage Publications. 1997. ASIN: B0006QP60M.