Cornish Canadians are
Canadians of
Cornish descent, including those who were born in
Cornwall. The number of Canadian citizens of Cornish descent cannot be determined through census statistics, though speculative estimates place the population as high as 20,000.
Cornish emigrants settled the area around
Bruce Mines starting in 1842. Located on the north shore of
Lake Huron, the area had been associated with the
native copper used by indigenous people, whose copper working in the upper
Great Lakes dates back to the
Old Copper complex. With the spread of knowledge of copper in the area among Europeans, a
copper mine opened in 1846, with many local Cornish settlers being recruited to work there. This was the first copper mine in Canada.[1]
Around this time, there was a depression in the Cornish mining industry, which contributed to the volume of people participating in the Cornish "Great Migration", the outflow of emigrants primarily to English-speaking colonies such as Canada and Australia. In 1848, a
barque carrying fifty Cornish emigrants, mostly from the
Hayle area, along with a stationary steam engine (built in a foundry at
Copperhouse) and assortment of Cornish ore processing equipment, left the
Port of Hayle bound for Montreal. The arrival of Cornish skilled workers and industrial equipment allowed the owners of the Bruce Mines to rapidly scale up mechanization of their operations.[2]
Notable people
Frank Andrews (1854-after 1890), member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly