St Merryn, Cornwall Genealogy

Parish History
The parish church was dedicated to St Marina &amp; later St Thomas the Martyr. It is now dedicated to St Merryn. The church consists of a chancel, nave, south aisle and north transept. The arcade has seven four-centred arches which, with pillars, are sharply and bodly worked in Cataceuse stone. The font was removed here from the ruins of St Constantine church in this parish. There are north and south porches and a priest's door. The tower is low and stumpy in appearance, consisting of two stages only. It contains six bells. About one-and-a-quarter miles to the south-west of St Merryn village are the ruins of St Constantine church. They consist of a portion of the tower with its doorway, and other fragments; no gravestones or other monuments are visible. There remain few signs of the first church building on the site, which would have been no more than a rough shelter erected sometime after 650 A.D. when the Christian faith was first taught by the missionary priest who came from Padstow. That church was enlarged subsequently, but not until Norman times was the first cruciform church erected. At the time of the first recorded Vicar, in 1259, there was a chancel, nave and tower. In 1422 the Chancel was lengthened, and the parishioners built the south aisle, south porch and two stages of the bell tower. During the 20th century the roof has been reslated, the windows overhauled, a new floor laid and pews replaced. Within Churchtown the modern parish is part of the St Merryn with St Issey and Petroc Minor United Benefice in the Diocese of Truro. Additions in more recent times have included the parish hall, and a new vicarage, but the surrounding landscape is timeless.

The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel at the Cottages, and the Bible Christians had one at Trehemban.



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 145

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/l_m/merryn_st.php The Online Parish Clerk for St Merryn is Susan Old and she also holds linked family pedigress for other parishes including St Eval, Cornwall,  St Ervan, Cornwall, St Mawgan  and  St Columb Major, Cornwall,

Contact with Susan can be made by the link on the St Merryn Cornwall online Parish Clerks page and her extensive work is a valuable resource for research in the district.

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
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 [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.