Temple, Cornwall Genealogy

Parish History
Temple St Catherine is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Truro ( historically the diocese of Exeter).

The Knights Templars possessed land here in the 12th century. On 26th August 1335, Bishop Grandisson certified to King Edward III that the prior and brethren of St John of Jerusalem then held the parish; these Knights Templar left a lasting reminder of their order in the present name of this parish. In the middle of the 19th century Temple was practically a deserted village with an ash tree growing in the floor of the church. In the 18th century the church achieved some notoriety as a place where couples could marry without a licence or banns. The church of Temple was dedicated to St Catherine. It comprised a chancel, nave and north transept. By the mid 19th century, only the first stage of the tower remained. About 1883, when the population was increasing in the area, the small church was virtually rebuilt but in recent years has been allowed to fall into a dilapidated state.

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.

Church records
Overview, Include information for parish registers and Bishop's Transcripts, Contact information for the office holding the original records, Links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Images of parish registers are available online in historic records (formerly Record Search) Images refer to Cornwall County Record Office reference: P 220

Cornwall Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource is the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks page for the parish http://www.cornwall-opc.org/Par_new/t_z/temple.php

The history registers and much more have been contributed by the Online Parish clerk for Temple is Kay Halley.

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.

http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Cornwall Online Census Project

Poor Law Unions
Bodmin Poor Law Union

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to [county] 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

Web sites
Add here any relevant sites that aren't mentioned above.