The 2 John & Mary Cornelius Families at St. Blazey in the 1820's

Research note by Wesley Johnston

last updated 10 Mar 2013

Overview of the Problem

There were two different men named John Cornelius who had wives named Mary in the 1820's. This document explains how I have recorded them and the reasons for those decisions.

The older John and Mary (nee Nettle) Cornelius

I have now determined, thanks to the Cornwall Family History Society research database, that Mary's maiden name was Nettle and that they married at St. Blazey in 1796 and had many children, who I have added to the tree.

The younger John and Mary (nee Hoskin) Cornelius

The younger John Cornelius married Mary Hoskin 15 Nov 1823 at St. Blazey, with Martha Thomas and Joseph Cornelius as witnesses. As we will see later, Joseph was probably John's brother. They were both sons of John Cornelius and Mary Nettle.

Implications and Conclusions

Thus any baptisms prior to 19 Nov 1823 (and presumbably about 9 more months later) were children of the older John and Mary.

There were two children born after this date:

• 1825 Oct 2 - Jenepher Nettle Cornelius, abode Biscovey
• 1828 Mar 23 - William Cornelius, abode Church Town

Since the older couple definitely had no children baptized at St. Blazey from 1816 to 1823, these later two children presumably are of the younger couple. This is further supported by the 1841 census of the Church Town that shows miner John (age rounded to 35) and Mary (rounded to 40) with Jane (rounded to 15 - probably the daughter of the Joseph & Elizabeth (nee Phillips) Cornelius baptized 23 Oct 1824), Jenefer (rounded to 15), William (12), John (9), Mary (7) and Elizabeth (3). Thus the 1825 Jenepher and 1828 William both appear with the younger John and Mary in the 1841 census.

It is important to note the tradition of making a child's middle name the maiden name of the mother. This was done in many St. Blazey families, although not necessarily for all the children. Thus the first guess at the 1824 Jenepher Nettle Cornelius' mother would be Mary Nettle. Mary (Nettle) Cornelius did indeed have a daughter name Jenipher Nettle Cornelius in 1805, and this daughter died in 1823. And it was very common for a child of the same gender born after the death of a child to be given that same name. However, since Mary Nettle would have been about 51 in 1825 and apparently had no more children after 1816, it is much more likely that the mother of the 1825 child was Mary (Hoskin) Cornelius, wife of the brother of the recently deceased Jenipher Nettle Cornelius, so that they named their daughter after his late sister.