Research Note for the St. Blazey Families Project by Wesley Johnston, begun 2010, last updated 5 Aug 2015
This is a research note that will change as I learn more.
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4 Apr 2013 addendum to the 26 May 2012 note (below): I really need to completely overhaul the note below in light of what the added comments and further research have found. The bottom line is that my original conclusion that "the Elizabeth BORLASE who married Joseph WARNE was the daughter of Elizabeth BENNETTS of Cardinham"has turned out to be correct. But due to other priorities, I cannot yet do the comprehensive overhaul of this note that is needed.
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5 Aug 2015 addendum to the 14 Apr 2013 addendum: I have at last determined the relationship of Benjamin and Mary HORE to the two BORLASE girls, Ann and Elizabeth, living in their hime in the 1841 census. Benjamin's wife Mary was the sister of Sampson BORLASE, the girls' father. This further confirms my original conclusion. But I still do not have the time to overhaul the research note. In addition, Mary and Sampson's sister Honour BORLASE married Robert HORE, and the Robert and Benjamin HORE couples lived together at Garkar in the 1861 census. Benjamin and Robert do not appear to have been brothers, but I have not determined their relationship to each other, other than as brothers-in-law since their wives were sisters.
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I have done a lot of work but need to do a lot more to figure this out. There may be something in the parish registers that does not show up in the Cornwall Family History Society database that may provide a crucial clue. But at this point (26 May 2012), here is what my thinking is.
WHAT IS KNOWN FOR CERTAIN?
The Elizabeth BORLASE/BORLACE who was first a servant in the Joseph and Mary Ann (nee GROSE) WARNE family home (1861 Census) and then married their son Joseph and then emigrated with him to Australia where she died in 1932 was reported on her death record as having a father with the given name Samson. [NOTE that all family trees that show the elder Joseph WARNE dieing in the 1840's are in error. He was very much alive in the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census, two of which (1861 and 1871) show him with Elizabeth BORLASE/BORLACE so that there is no doubt that it is the correct Joseph WARNE, father of her husband. There was a Joseph WARNE who died in the 1840's, but that Joseph was definitely NOT the father of Elizabeth's husband.]
The 1861 census shows Elizabeth age 25, born St Austell. The 1871 census shows her age 35, born St Blazey.
THE TWO BAPTISMS
There were two Elizabeth BORLASE baptisms in 1835, both to parents named Sampson and Elizabeth, apparently two separate families:
- 15 Jun 1835 at St. Austell - abode Penhedra - father Yeoman [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-13029-80276-42]
- 6 Dec 1835 at St. Blazey - abode Washaway - father Miner [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11049-200209-38]
THE TWO MARRIAGES
The Cornwall Family History Society research database has only two marriages of Sam* Borl* to Eli*:
Husband Name / Wife Name / Parish / Date
Sampson BORLASE / Elizabeth BENNETTS / Cardinham / 15 Aug 1829 - witnesses John Bennett, Richard Coppin [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-12419-9338-6]
Sampson BORLASE / Elizabeth SCOTT / St Columb Major / 19 Nov 1822 - witnesses John May, James Dennis [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11061-2400-65]
There is only one child baptism who clearly can be assigned to the 1829 marriage: Ann Bennett BORLASE baptized 3 Jun 1832 at St. Blazey (abode ?Baskaway? [probably Washaway, same as 6 Dec 1835 Elizabeth] - father Miner [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11049-201815-6]. The middle name of Bennett is consistent with the 1829 marriage mother's maiden name, as was the custom.
So the Sampson Borlase who married Elizabeth Bennetts was a miner, and the one who married Elizabeth Scott was a Yeoman.
THE 1841 CENSUS
Elizabeth BORLASE/BORLACEs born 1835 (remember that there were two of them) show up in two different households in St. Blazey and St. Austell.
http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=8978&path=Cornwall.St+Austell.ALL.12.5
The Penhedra, St. Austell household is that of Sampson (40, Farmer) and Elizabeth (42) with William (15), John (13), Henry (8), Elizabeth (6), and Andrew (3). Since William and John were both born before 1829, this cannot be the 1829 family, if these are all children of this Sampson and Elizabeth. Note that there is no Ann in this family, so that this also tends to confirm that this Elizabeth is NOT Elizabeth BENNETTS.
http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=8978&path=Cornwall.St+Austell.ALL.10.4
The other Sampson-Elizabeth BORLASE family is just the two girls Elizabeth and Ann in Ashes Park, St. Austell and is splintered, with different ones in different households. This is consistent with the father being ill, which is also consistent with the daughter Elizabeth being a servant later in life. In Ashes Park, Anne BORLASE (8) and Elizabeth BORLASE (6) are in the home of Benjamin (55 rounded) and Mary HORE (50 rounded). I could not find the girls' parents. But here is the Anne who was probably the 1832 Anne Bennett BORLASE, so that these girls are probably the daughters of Elizabeth BENNETTS of Cardinham.
OTHER SIBLINGS OF ELIZABETH
Disregarding the children who appear in the 1841 Penhedra census (St. Austell parish), it seems that the following St. Blazey baptisms are probably siblings of Elizabeth and Ann. Both of them died in 1835.
BORLASE Sampson Son BORLASE Sampson - Elizabeth St Blazey 12 Sep 1830 - abode Trevergey [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11049-201257-98] - burial 10 Jun 1835 St. Austell - age 4; abode "St Blazey"; "Scarlet Fever" [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-13029-83943-10]
BORLACE Jane Dau BORLACE Sampson - Elizabeth St Blazey 14 Sep 1834 - abode Washaway St. Austell [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11049-202119-29] - burial 1 Feb 1835 St. Austell - age 5 months; abode "Gray" [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-13029-84793-94]
AN 1843 SAMPSON BORLASE DEATH - NOT ELIZABETH'S FATHER
Free BMD shows the death of a Sampson Borlase in Jan-Mar 1843 in the St. Austell district. This is NOT the father of Elizabeth and Ann. It is a 4-year-old Sampson Borlase, son of John & Maria Borlase, who died at Ruddle in St. Austell parish. [https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-13029-72113-75]
LATER CENSUSES
The Cardinham Elizabeth BENNETTS BORLASE appears in St. Austell in the 1871 and 1881 censuses, and identified as a miner's widow, living next to her daughter Ann Bennett BORLASE, wife of Bejamin HAMBLY.
The younger Elizabeth (the subject of this researrch note) may be the one who is the 1851 niece of Benjamin BORLASE and living at Vounder in St. Blazey. She is shown as 15, born St. Austell.
The 1841 Sampson-Elizabeth at Penhedra (St. Austell) family appears to be the one that moved to Luxulyan by 1871. This Elizabeth is definitely identified as the St. Columb Elizabeth.
CONCLUSIONS
I believe that the Elizabeth BORLASE who married Joseph WARNE was the daughter of Elizabeth BENNETTS of Cardinham.
The 6 Dec 1835 St. Blazey baptism is clearly this same Elizabeth.
I do not know what happened to her father and mother. Only she and her sister Ann appear in the 1841 census. Her other siblings had both died in 1835, but I can find no burial records for her parents. There are simply too many possible plausible scenarios to speculate about. However, the absence of death records seems to indicate that the parents were still living. However the Cornwall Family History Society Research Database generally does not include the records once the 1837 civil registration began, so that there is a period of 4 years in which we have only Free BMD has an index, although the parish register images are now online at FamilySearch.org.
We do now know the parents and siblings of Elizabeth, and we know what happened to the siblings but not the parents.