Poldark Saga - Winston Graham discussion

Group member Bonny has been researching the place names for each of the books and posting in a Facebook group called "Aidan Turner spoilers." I am reposting this information with Bonny's permission.

MINGOOSE - Mingoose is a hamlet near St Agnes and north of Mount Hawke in Cornwall, England. "At the extreme eastern end of the Poldark land, about half a mile from the house of Nampara, the property joined that of Mr. Horace Treneglos, whose house lay a couple of miles inland behind the Hendrawna sand hills and was called Mingoose. At the point where the two estates met on the cliff edge was a third mine" Page 125.

FALMOUTH: (page 61)Falmouth (/ˈfælməθ/; Cornish: Aberfala) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Falmouth was the site where Henry VIII built Pendennis Castle to defend Carrick Roads, in 1540. The main town of the district was then at Penryn. Sir John Killigrew created the town of Falmouth shortly after 1613. "Tonight we are to stay. Tomorrow we leave for Falmouth for two weeks." Elizabeth to Ross....

Pg 59, PENZANCE-Penzance (/pɛnˈzæns/; Cornish: Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, in England, United Kingdom. It is well known for being the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles (121 km) west of Plymouth and 300 miles (480 km) west-southwest of London. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay, the town faces south-east onto the English Channel, is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn, to the north by the civil parish of Madron and to the east by the civil parish of Ludgvan.
"To the Reverend Mr. Clarence Odgers, a desicated little man, was entrusted the cure of the village of Sawle with Grambler, and for that, the rector, who lived in Penzance, paid him forty pounds a year. On that, he kept a wife, a cow, and ten children."

KENWYN (page 58)
Kenwyn (Cornish: Keynwynn) is a settlement and civil parish in Cornwall. The settlement is a suburb of the city of Truro and is situated 0.5 mi (1 km) north of the city centre. It gives its name to one of three rivers that flow through the city. "Elizabeth and her parents had come out from Kenwyn in the Chynoweth family coach, rattling and lurching along the narrow rutted lanes and throwing behind a fog of gray dust that settled evenly over the staring people who gathered to watch it go by."

SAWLE...Sawle was a surname in Falmouth; the first one came with William the Conqueror. May be pronounced Sole? On page 57 of Ross- In the week before the wedding Ross left his property only once: to visit Sawle Church. Joshua had expressed a wish to be buried in the same grave as his wife, so there was little to see. Sacred to the memory Grace Mary....Also of Joshua Poldark, of Nampara....Four days later Ross returned to the church to bury the hopes he had carried with him for more than two years." Sawle Church was a half a mile from the village of Sawle at the head of the track leading to the village....... Maybe a Cornwall person knows more?

MARASANVOSE - Marazanvose is a hamlet southwest of Zelah in Cornwall, England. It is on the A30 main road. "Let us go on a little. I wonder if it might not be possible to unwater all these old workings by means of an adit driven from the low ground beyond Marasanvose." (Ross to Francis)

WARLEGGAN (page 18)
Warleggan or Warleggon (Cornish: Gorlegan) is a civil parish on the southern edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
The parish is roughly oblong in shape with hamlets near the church and at Mount. The River Warleggan, a tributary of the River Fowey, runs through the parish, forming its western boundary in places. The population was 203 in the 2001 census, and had increased to 208 at the 2011 census. The population in 1801 was 116, in 1811 228, in 1821 296, 1871 301, 1881 232. 1931 168, 1971 162.
A road was built in 1953 linking Warleggan to the A38; until then it had been regarded as one of the most remote areas of Cornwall.

Truro Grammar School (page 16)
Truro Cathedral School was a Church of England school for boys in Truro, Cornwall. An ancient school refounded in 1549 as the Truro Grammar School, after the establishment of Truro Cathedral in the last quarter of the 19th century it was responsible for educating the cathedral's choristers and became known as the Cathedral School.
The school closed in July 1982.

Rector of TYWARDREATH (page 16, Ross)
tywardreath (Cornish: Ti War Dreth, meaning manorial centre on a beach
is a small hilltop village in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. about 3 miles (4.8 km) north west of Fowey. It is located in a sheltered spot overlooking a silted up estuary opposite Par and near the beach of Par Sands. It sits on the Saints' Way trail.
Tywardreath translates from the Cornish language as a manorial centre on a beach, or House on the Strand, and was featured by Daphne du Maurier in her novel The House on the Strand.
The seal of the borough of Tywardreath was a Shield of Arms a saltire between four fleurs-de-lis, with the legend "Tywardreath".
Tywardreath was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) when it was one of 28 manors held by Richard from Robert, Count of Mortain. There were 2 hides of land and land for 12 ploughs. One virgate of land was held by Richard with 4 ploughs and 7 serfs; 8 villeins and 18 smallholders had the rest of the land with 3 ploughs. There were 6 acres of woodland and 100 acres of pasture. The manor was valued at £2 sterling though it had formerly been worth £4
Although the civil parish is shown under Tywardreath and Par there is an electoral ward (which also includes Par) shown under the name of Tywardreath only.

ST. AUSTELL (page 15, Ross)
One of the earliest references to St Austell is in John Leland's Itinerary, where he says "At S. Austelles is nothing notable but the paroch chirch"
Not long after William Cookworthy discovered china clay at Tregonning hill in west Cornwall, the same mineral was found in greater quantity in Hensbarrow downs north of St Austell. Clay mining soon took over from tin and copper mining as the principal industry in the area, and this eventually contributed enormously to the growth of the town. The clay industry really only came into its own during the mid 19th to early 20th century, at a time when the falling prices of tin and other metals forced many mines to close down or convert to clay mining. The success and high profitability of the industry attracted many families whose breadwinner had been put out of work by the depression in the local metal mining industry, and increased the population of the town considerably. This meant that more shops and businesses took root, providing more jobs and improving trade. This, along with other factors, led to St Austell becoming one of the ten most important commercial centres of Cornwall.

CUSGARNE (page 98)
Cusgarne (Cornish: Kosgaran) is a village in Cornwall, England, UK. It is about six miles from Truro and five miles from Redruth.

REDRUTH (page 7)
Historically, Redruth was a small market town overshadowed by its neighbours until a boom in the demand for copper ore during the 18th century. Copper ore had mostly been discarded by the Cornish tin-mining industry but was now needed to make brass, an essential metal in the Industrial Revolution. Surrounded by copper ore deposits, Redruth quickly became one of the largest and richest mining areas in Britain and the town's population grew markedly, although most miners' families remained poor.

Guess that is just about all we could ever want/need to know about the Poldark series ! thanks for the many insights and facts. Guess the author really knew what he was writing about !! Amazing !!

Thanks so much, this is great information.

PENRYN (/pɛnˈrɪn/[2] Cornish: Pennrynn,meaning 'promontory') is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Penryn River about 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of Falmouth
Though now the town is overshadowed by the larger nearby town of Falmouth, Penryn was once an important harbour in its own right, exporting granite and tin to the rest of the country (and indeed the world) throughout the medieval period. Page 81: "I've naught to say against God," croaked Jack Tripp. "But I don't hold with the God of the corn factor's choosing. Didnt Christ preach justice for all? Where's justice in starving women and children? The clergy are stuffed wi' food while your womenfolk live on black bread ad beech leaves, an' your children shrivel and die. And there's corn in Penryn, friends!"

This, and all other posts in this discussion thread, come courtesy of group member Bonnie:

MELLINGEY
...we drove by the Mellingey - a stream. According to a booklet I picked up, "1000 Cornish Place Names Explained," Mellingey also means "mill house." In our case, its a small stream that runs through Perranporth to I don't know where. Here's how it was mentioned in ROSS: ......"do not cross the Mellingey by the bridge: the middle plank is rotten." "So it was when I left." (Francis to Ross).

Wow !! Bonnie, what a piece of accurate information. Kudos to Mr. Graham for being so accurate though we wouldn't have noticed if he wasn't.

ILLOGAN
(pronounced illuggan, Cornish: Egloshalow) is a village and civil parish in west Cornwall, England, UK, two miles northwest of Redruth. Originally a rural area supporting itself by farming and agriculture, Illogan shared in the general leap into prosperity brought about by the mining boom, which was experienced by the whole Camborne-Redruth area. The parish church was dedicated to St Illogan (Ylloganus or Euluganus).

In the book p. 88 [Ross first meets Demelza]: "I know she," said a woman, peering. "She'm Tom Carne's daughter. They live over to Illogan."

PADSTOW
is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately 5 miles northwest of Wadebridge, 10 miles northwest of Bodmin and 10 miles northeast of Newquay.

In the book:"Nick Vigus sidled between them, and a gleam from the lantern showed up his pink face with its toothless pockmarked innocence. "What cargo do she carry?" Pally Rogers screwed the water out of his beard. "Taper and wool from Padstow they do say."

POOL
(Cornish: Poll) is a village in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is bypassed by the A30, situated on the A3047 between Camborne and Redruth, between Tuckingmill and Illogan Highway.

In the book Page 87: [setting the scene at Redruth Fair] "And glad of the excuse. Aunt Mary Treglown, her's got a cottage over to Pool---" "Ais, I knaw..." Ross finished his drink and ordered another. Then he changed his mind and moved into the crowd. "God preserve us!" said a housewife suddenly. "Is it a girl they're bating up? Or I'm mistook. An't any of ye going to stop em?" Ross took his riding crop from his boot and walked into the arena. Three of the urchins saw him coming; two fled, but the third stood his ground with bared teeth. Ross hit him across the face with the whip and the boy shrieked and fled

(view spoiler)[32 years later (The Twisted Sword) Ross would say that was the luckiest day of his life (rescuing Demelza). (hide spoiler)]

Lol glad I'm not the only one that google mapped places to see if they were actual places!