Breage, Cornwall Family History Guide

Status: Ancient Parish

Alternative names: Breage with Germoe, St Breage, St Breock in Kerrier

Parish church: St. Breage

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1559
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1597

Nonconformists include:

Parishes adjacent to Breage

Historical Descriptions

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

BREAGE, or St. Breage,-pronounced Brague-a village, a parish, and a subdistrict in the district of Helston, Cornwall. The village stands on the coast, 3 miles W of Helston, and 6½ S by E of Gwinear Road r. station; and has a post office under Helston, and a fair on 19 June. It is said to have been founded by the Irish St. Breaca. The parish comprises 7,056 acres of land and 105 of water. Real property, £12,212; of which £4,883 are in mines. Pop., 5,173. Houses, 1,037. Much of the property belonged formerly to the Godolphin family; and belongs now to the Duke of Leeds. Godolphin mansion is now used as a farmhouse. Godolphin hill and Tregonning hill rise to altitudes of 495 and 596 feet; consist of granite; and are rich in minerals. China clay is worked out of part of Godolphin hill, and sent to neighbouring ports for shipment. Huel-Vor or Wheal-Vor tin mine is in the same hill; has been worked in lodes 30 feet wide; extends upwards of 1¼ mile under ground; and has yielded, at times, a clear profit of £10,000 in three months. The living is a vicarage with Germoe in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £760. Patron, the Crown. The church contains the remains of Mrs. Godolphin. The vicarage of Godolphin and that of Cury and Gunwalloe are separate benefices. Charities, £8. Lord Treasurer Godolphin was a native. The subdistrict includes also the parish of Germoe. Acres, 8,448. Pop., 6,188. Houses, 1,253.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

BREAGE (St. Breage), a parish, in the union of Helston, W. division of the hundred of Kerrier and of the county of Cornwall, 3 miles (W. by N.) from Helston; containing 6166 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from Falmouth to Penzance, and bounded on the south by the sea for nearly seven miles; it abounds in mineral ores, chiefly copper and tin, with some lead and manganese, and zinc. Stone of good quality for building is found in abundance, and Tregonning Hill consists almost entirely of granite, which is extensively quarried; there is also a quarry of chinastone. The number of acres is 7056: the greater portion is profitable land, and in good cultivation; 544 acres are common or waste. A fair for cattle is held on the 18th of June, and there is another fair. The living is a vicarage, with the vicarages of Cury, Germoe, and Gunwalloe annexed, valued in the king’s books at £33, and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriators, Mrs. Richards and others. The great and small tithes of Breage have been commuted for £628. 10. and £510 respectively. The church is a handsome structure in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower. A church district named Godolphin was endowed in 1846 by the Ecclesiastical Commission. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and other denominations of Methodists. The parish contains the remains of Pengersick Castle, consisting of a tower of several stages, with a good stone staircase, supposed to have been built in the time of Henry VII.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Bankrupts

Below is a list of people that were declared bankrupt between 1820 and 1843 extracted from The Bankrupt Directory; George Elwick; London; Simpkin, Marshall and Co.; 1843.

Hendy William, Breage, Cornwall, farmer and dealer, Aug. 13, 1822.

Parish Records

Cornwall parish registers : Phillimore, William Phillimore Watts, 1853-1913, [from old catalog] ed : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Book digitized by Google from the library of Harvard University and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb.