In the best of times and in darker days, the strong family unit is one of the most valuable building blocks of our societies. The Cornish family, in its individuality, in its far-flung breadth and with its sense of worldwide community, is a vigorous example of this truth. In this magnificent book, Dr Bernard Deacon explores who we are, our forefathers and our descendants, where we come from and where we are headed and how these major themes are expressed in the meaning of our names.

The first book to look specifically at the movement of Cornish men and women to and from the Caribbean from the early days of colonialism. A fascinating subject for those with an interest in all things Cornish, be they in Cornwall, in the Caribbean, or in the wider Cornish diaspora. The Cornish in the Caribbean is the first study to tell the stories of some of the many Cornish men and women who went to the Caribbean. Some became wealthy plantation owners, while others came as indentured servants and labourers. Cornish men were active in the armed services, taking part in the numerous sea and land battles fought by the competing European powers throughout the region. Cornish officers and crew sailed on the ships of the Falmouth Packet Service which took the mail to and from the Caribbean. Methodism was strong in Cornwall and Methodist missionaries and their wives came to the Caribbean to evangelise both the enslaved and the newly free. The most striking transfer of Cornish skills to the Caribbean was to be found in mining. As Cornish mining declined, and the Great Emigration of miners and their families got underway, Cornish mining engineers, captains and miners went out to mines throughout the Caribbean. “Meticulously researched and highly readable” Bridget Brereton, Professor Emerita, University of the West Indies.

The story of the migration of the Cornish people throughout the world is an epic. Payton is one of the world's leading scholars of the movement of Cornish people over time, both within the UK and to the major mining and agricultural districts of the world. This book follows new research over the last six years.

The Cornish have for a long time long considered themselves a race apart from the English and their origins are indeed more related to those of the Welsh, Scottish and Breton peoples than to most others east of the River Tamar. Almost every town and village in Cornwall has been used as a surname, and the traditional Cornish trades of fishing and mining have also provided inspiration for family names. Features of the landscape such as hills and rivers have had a huge effect, with many of these containing elements of some names which can be tracked back to the old Celtic language, for example the prefixes Pen (headland) and Pol (pool). A lot of names are tied to a particular area of Cornwall: Rodda and Bottrell are seldom found east of Penzance, whilst names like Odgers, Opie and Wearne are most common in mid-Cornwall around the mining areas of Redruth and Gwennap. Surnames can reveal a lot about family history, but their origins can be difficult to trace. This handy lexicon, drawn together from an exhaustive research, serves as an ideal starting point for tracing ancestry. Packed with information about notable families and migration, this is also an ideal book for anyone interested in the story of Cornish people.

The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling novel!