St Erth

• The Cornwall Family History Society have also published Monumental Inscriptions for the Parish Church - 863 entries.
• Further information on the churchyard is also available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.
• War Memorial inscriptions for St Erth parish are separately available.

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1901) is held in the Cornwall Record Office. The Cornwall Family History Society offers a census search service for its members.
Specific census information for this parish is available as follows:

• 1841. The 1841 Census of St Erth (HO107/144) (Enumeration Districts 1 to 5), is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of St Erth (HO107/1917), (Enumeration Districts 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and 1e), is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • The 1851 Census of St Erth is available on-line. The New Zealand Society of Genealogists have compiled separate surname indexes of the 1851 Census for each Cornish registration district; St Erth is listed in Volume 24. The booklets are available in Cornwall at the Cornwall Centre, (formerly known as the Cornish Studies Library), and is also available in the Cornwall FHS Library.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of St Erth is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG9/1587. Enumeration District 8.
  • RG9/1588. Enumeration Districts 9 to 12.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of St Erth is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG10/2331. Enumeration Districts 8 [including Schools], 9 and 10d.
  • RG10/2332. Enumeration Districts 11 and 12.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of St Erth is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG11/2339. Enumeration District 8.
  • RG11/2340.
    • Enumeration Districts 9 to 12.
    • Merchant Shipping.
• The 1881 Census of St Erth is also available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of St Erth (RG12/1853) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • Enumeration District 8.
  • Enumeration Districts 9 to 12.

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SW5535 and was dedicated to St Ercius (or Ercus), who was the first Bishop of Slane, in the county of Meath in Ireland, and who died in A.D. 514. The church consists of a chancel, nave, and north and south aisles. The arcades each have six obtuse arches. There is a south porch, a north door, and a priest's door. The chancel wall was rebuilt in 1742, and the church was repaired and replastered in 1747. The tower is of three stages, surmounted with battlements and pinnacles. It is 54 feet in height and contained three bells.
  The church is mentioned in a visitation in 1281 when it was reported that the chancel was ill-covered and required whitening.
  By 2008, the parish was part of Godrevy United Benefice. Details about the plans of the modern church (ICBS) are available on-line.
• Non-Conformist. The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel in the Churchtown, and at St Erth Praze; the Bible Christians also had a chapel in the Churchtown.

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for St Erth are: C021861/2, C053461, E053461, M053461. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage for this parish is 1563 - 1875.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1563 - 1918, Burials 1563 - 1906, Marriages 1578 - 1980, Boyd's Marriage Index 1563 - 1812, Pallot's Marriage Index 1800 - 1812.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • Pre 1837 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials
• Baptisms.
  • Baptisms 1563 to 1912 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • wesleyan-Methodist baptisms at St Erth 1881 to 1900 are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C- PROP).
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published on CD, baptisms 1700 to 1834 for this parish which can be purchased on Parish Chest.
  • Some St Erth baptism records 1563 to 1900 are available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.
  • Baptisms at St Erth 1813 to 1899 of those whose father or mother's abode is Phillack or Hayle are on-line courtesy of the OPC.
  • Baptisms Solemnized in the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel of St Erth 1881-1900 are also available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.
• Marriages.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1563 to 1837, which is available in Book, CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Marriages 1563 to 1907, and Phillimore's marriages 1563 to 1812, for this parish are also available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Some St Erth marriage records 1563 to 1960 are available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.
  • Marriages at St Erth 1701 to 1919 of those whose Bride or groom's abode is Phillack or Hayle are on-line courtesy of the OPC.
• Burials.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Burials 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book and CD format.
  • Burials 1565 to 1937 for this parish are also available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Some St Erth burials 1565 to 1960 are available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.
  • Burials at St Erth 1813 to 1899 of those whose abode is Phillack or Hayle are on-line courtesy of the OPC.

The parish of St Erth has been in the Penzance Registration District continuously from 1st July 1837. There were originally sub-districts at Marazion, Penzance, St Buryan, St Just, St Ives and Uny-Lelant but these have now been abolished. Parishes within the district are: Gulval, Ludgvan, Madron, Marazion, Morvah, Penzance, Perranuthnoe, St. Buryan, St. Erth, St. Hilary, St. Ives, St. Just in Penwith, St. Levan, St. Michael's Mount, St. Paul, Sancreed, Sennen, Towednack, Uny-Lelant, Wolfe Rock Lighthouse, and Zennor. The Superintendant Registrar can be contacted at: Alphington House, Alverton Place, Penzance, TR18 4JJ. Tel: 01736 330093.

• Photographs of St Erth are available on-line.
• More Pictures of St Erth are also available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Kelly'S 1873 Directory of St Erth.

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from St Erth to another place.

• OPC Assistance.

  • The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a service to help family historians; the OPC page for this parish is available on-line, from where the OPC can be contacted by email.
  • The OPC for St Erth has produced a genealogical website for the parish.

  Persons either born in St Erth and living elsewhere or living in St Erth but born elsewhere, are known as "Strays". Strays found in St Erth are available on-line.

The Domesday Settlements of Cornwall, a study undertaken by the Cornwall Branch of the Historical Association, has identified and located settlements listed in the Exeter and Exchequer Domesday Survey of AD 1086. The following places have been identified in St Erth ecclesiastical parish:

• Gurlyn (Woreslin), Grid Reference 569325.

• The parish and town tithe maps, and accompanying survey books of c1840, provide a fascinating snap-shot of land use and ownership in the 19th century. In order to preserve the documents and improve access to them, the Cornwall Record Office are digitising these maps and survey books. The CD ROM tithe package include a map and survey books, together with a reader, for this parish; it is now available from the Cornwall Record Office. Details are on their website.

• Map of the Penzance Registration District in which the parish lies.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SW550351 (Lat/Lon: 50.165354, -5.431666), St Erth which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• Some names of St Erth families being researched are available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.

• Some extracts from Newspapers on events in St Erth are available, courtesy of the OPC.

Information about the St Ives, Zennor, St Erth Mines, is available on-line.

• St Erth parish was part of the Penzance Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

• Wills from St Erth parish for the period 1690 to 1859 are available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.
• Wills & Admons for St Erth parish, 1660-1771 are also available on-line.

• In the May of 1641 it was agreed and ordered that every Member of the House of Commons and House of Lords should make a protestation (declaration of loyalty) to the crown. The Protestation was printed and then distributed by the Members to their counties. The Protestation was to be made by everyone and the Rectors, Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor, had to appear before the Justices of the Peace in their Hundred to make their protestation and, on returning to their parishes, any two of them were to witness the taking of the Protestation Oath by all males over the age of 18 years. All names were listed and anyone who refused was to be noted.
• The Protestation Returns of 1642 for St Erth are available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.
• An index to Clergy (by name) of St.Erth is available, courtesy of the OPC.

The Penwith Local History Group aims:

• To encourage and sustain public interest in the history of Penwith to provide mutual support and encouragement to members in their individual research projects, whether related to Penwith or of wider historical interest.
• To work as a group on specific research projects, with the aim of publication to an academic standard.
• To encourage the strong link with the Morrab Library in Penzance, supporting the Library in its aims and activities.

The parish comprises 3792 acres of land, 13 acres of water, 27 acres of tidal water and 80 acres of foreshore.

• The Hearth Tax entries for St Erth (1662) are available on-line, courtesy of the OPC.