HISTORY GROUP:

We meet each month at the Royal British Legion in Truro, normally on the third Tuesday at 2.00pm. However, due to the Truro Christmas meeting being brought forward to 13th December for the Poetry, Prose and Photographic Competitions review and prize-giving, one or two of our December regular activities, including History, will be curtailed! The History Group is coordinated by Tony Herring (01872) 273678.

Recent Meetings:

15th November:

Twenty five of our members came to our November meeting to hear Gerald Lampshire talk about the history of Holman's at Camborne. The firm was founded by Nicholas Holman in 1801, flourishing for the next seventy years, manufacturing machinery for all the local mines. Then, as cheaper tin and copper were found in mines abroad, many of the smaller Cornish mines were founced to close down.

The work done at Holman's declined, but the firm was saved when it developed a new and very succesful rock drill, which became widely used by mines, both in this country and abroad. The firm was busy during the two world wars and was still employing two to three thousand workers in its four Camborne factories during the 1950s. Cheaper rock drills and compressors then started to be imported from the Far East. Gradually, Holman work declined again. There were various take-overs but they did not manage to save the firm, which finally closed its doors in 2003. The talk was very much enjoyed and was followed by a lot of questions from the audience.

18th November:

Following an earlier talk given by Diana Smith, on the history of some of the old classic buildings in Truro, Diana was encouraged to offer a guided walk-about tour, for members to see some of these interesting buildings and to learn a little of their history. This walk is written up in more detail on our Outings & Visits page.

17th January:

Rosemary Goodchild gave an interesting, well-researched illustrated talk about "The Duke of Wellington". She followed his long career, fighting in India, in the Penninsular War against the French and then on to his great victory at Waterloo. She also talked about his political career, his titles and honours, his houses and his mistresses. A fascinating talk!

21st February:

It was an unusually well attended meeting with nearly 50 people there. Chris Burton has been researching both the Fox and Williams families, who dominated the commercial activities in Perranwell and Falmouth from 1750 and throughout the next 100 years. The Fox family were Quakers, debarred from the universities, parliamentary careers and the legal profession.

They worked closely with the Methodist Williams family. Both families directed their energies into mining, smelting and shipping ventures in Cornwall and South Wales. They ran the Perran Foundry, which exported Cornish machinery to mines throughout the world. Many of the family were interested in Natural Science and in particular gardening. They founded the magnificent gardens that we can still enjoy at Glendurgan, Trebah, Caerhayes and Burncoose.

 

Future Meetings:

17th April: Professor Gareth Parry will be talking about the History of Telegraphy in Cornwall.

15th May: Valery Cavey will talk about native American Indians and show examples of their dresses and beadwork.