Delabole St John, Cornwall Genealogy

Parish History
Delabole (Cornish: Delyowboll) is a large village in north Cornwall, which came into existence in the 20th century; it is named after the Delabole Quarry. There were three hamlets: Pengelly, Medrose and Rockhead. When the railway arrived, the station was named Delabole after the quarry, and the three hamlets merged in order to keep the name consistent and prevent confusion.

The Anglican Church of St John was built ca. 1880 (architects Hine &amp; Odgers) (the parish church is at St Teath). The Methodist Chapel is about 20 years earlier and has a curious 'Italianate' porch.

The Delabole slate quarry is one of the largest of its type in England and has run continuously since the 15th century making it the oldest working slate quarry in England. In the reign of Elizabeth I the five quarries on the site of the now larger pit assumed considerable importance delivering slate to Brittany and the Netherlands. In 1841 the five quarries combined to make the Old Delabole Slate Quarry.

The Old Delabole Slate Quarry Ltd was liquidated in 1977 by the company's bankers. It was run under receivership by Rio Tinto Zinc until 1999 when a local management team bought it out. The quarry is now owned by a local family. In 1910, 500 people were employed at the quarry but this has since reduced to 80, the decline due to the availability of cheaper roofing materials e.g. Welsh slate or prefabricated tiles.

Civil Registration
Births, marriages and deaths were kept by the government from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is Free BMD.

Census records
Overview, Include any unique information such as, the census for X year was destroyed, Collection in FHL and link to catalog, Online sites.

Cornwall Online Census Project

Poor Law Unions
Camelford Poor Law Union

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Cornwall Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
There are many maps and gazetteers showing English places. Valuable web sites are:


 * England Jurisdictions 1851 * Vision of Britain