Mawgan-in-Pydar, Cornwall Genealogy

Guide to Mawgan-in-Pydar, Cornwall ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
MAWGAN-in-Pyder, a parish, in the union of St. Columb Major, E. division of the hundred of Pyder and of the county of Cornwall, 3 miles NW by W from St. Columb Major. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Mawgan-in-Pydar, (Cornish: Lannhorn); St Mawgan (mauganus); St Nicholas is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cornwall. Other places in the parish include: Lanherne.

The church is dedicated to St Mauganus; a Welshman and is also honoured at Mawgan in Meneage in Kerrier and in Wales and Brittany.

There is an unusual rood screen and bench ends and there are many monumental brasses to members of the Arundell family; these include George Arundell, 1573, Mary Arundell, 1578, Cyssel and Jane Arundell, ca. 1580, Edward Arundell, 1586

The Arundells have been the chief landowners here since the 13th century: in 1794 Lanherne House (mainly built in the 16th and 17th centuries) became a convent for emigré nuns from Belgium. Many memorials of the Arundells may be found in the church and more in the church of St Columb Major, Cornwall

The modern parish is part of the St Mawgan with St Ervan and St Eval, United Benefice in the diocese of Truro.

RAF St Mawgan history
Opened as a civilian airfield in 1933, it was requisitioned at the outbreak of World War II and named RAF Trebelzue, initially as a satellite of nearby RAF St Eval, but was expanded with twin concrete runways. In February 1943 it was re-named RAF St. Mawgan and in June 1943, the United States Army Air Forces took over and carried out a number of major improvements, including a new control tower and a further extension of the main runway. The base was put under maintenance on 1 July 1947.

In 1951 it reopened as a Coastal Command base used for maritime reconnaissance, flying Avro Lancaster and Avro Shackleton aircraft. In 1956 with 220 and 228 Long Range Reconnaissance Squadrons. These Squadrons were later renumbered 201 and 206 and joined by 42 Sqn. It also became the Headquarters of 22 (helicopter) Sqn. In 1965 the Maritime Operational Training Unit took up residence. In 1992 it ceased to houses fixed wing aircraft. In 1976 the film The Eagle Has Landed was filmed on the camp.

In 2008 the Cornwall County Council was given permission to operate the runway as Newquay Civil Airport,RAF Search and Rescue and the Cornwall Air ambulance service are based in part of the area.

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
Mawgan-in-Pydar parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Records are also available at the Cornwall Record Office.

Non Conformist Churches
Lanherne Roman Catholic registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Cornwall Online Parish Clerks
An extremely useful resource is the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. Susan Old is OPC and also has information transcribed for St Eval, Cornwall, St Ervan, Cornwall,  St Merryn, Cornwall and St Columb Major, Cornwall.

Census records
Cornwall Online Census Project

Poor Law Unions
St Columb Major 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

Websites
Mawgan in Pydar in GENUKI