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. Temple is and has been in the Bodmin Registration District since the inception of civil registration in 1837.

Church records
The parish registers are held in the collection at the Cornwall Record Office in Truro, where they may be viewed by appointment. Many have been filmed by the GSU and information can be found in 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. At the present time only a few years of marriage records are available in an unindexed but browsable form.

A more extensive set of records, which are transcriptions of the registers, can be found on the Cornwall Online Parish Clerks Website (see below).

Temple is a small parish and the small building was in a state of disrepair until the 1880's, so many church events for the few people living in the parish took place in neighbouring parishes, particularly Cardinham, Helland, and Blisland, a fact that must be noted by genealogical researchers. With fewer than 3 dozen inhabitants, the parish was incorporated into the parish of Blisland in 1934, but the church building remains and is generally open to visitors, and the cemetery is still maintained.

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, who is Kay Halley. She may be contacted through a link on the Cornwall OPC website. This is a volunteer position and information is available without cost as time and resources permit.

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
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.