Tintagel, Cornwall Genealogy

England Cornwall  Cornwall Parishes



Parish History
TINTAGEL (St. Symphorina), a parish, in the union of Camelford, hundred of Lesnewth, E. division of Cornwall; comprising the disfranchised borough of Bossiney. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. The parish is situated on the Bristol Channel, by which it is bounded on the north; and was distinguished at an early period for its castle, whose foundation is attributed to King Arthur.

Tintagel St Materiana is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cornwall. Other places in the parish include: Bosiney, Bossiney, Tregatta, Trethevy, and Trevena.

The first church on the site was probably in the 6th century, founded as a daughter church of Minster: these are the only churches dedicated to the saint, though she is usually identified with Madryn, Princess of Gwent.

The existing church may have been created in the late 11th or early 12th century. Art historian Nikolaus Pevsner (writing in 1950) suggested that its Norman-era design includes some Saxon features, while the tower may be 13th or 15th century in date. The most significant change in its design was the restoration in 1870 by Piers St Aubyn which included a new roof. Later changes include moving the organ (twice) and a number of new stained glass windows: many of these portray saints, including St Materiana, St George and St Piran. There are three modern copies of Old Master paintings, and a Roman milestone bearing the name of the Emperor Licinius (d. 324). The tower has a peal of six bells, ranging in date from 1735 to 1945

The earliest recorded vicar was Gervase de Truueru in 1259; the longest serving Gerance Davye, 1581–1629; and the second longest Richard Byrn Kinsman, 1851-1894. The patrons of the benefice since 1534 have been the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The patronage belonged in the 13th and 14th centuries to the French abbey at Fontevrault (now known as Fontevraud-l'Abbaye).

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 224

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/tintagel.php

The history registers and much more have been contributed by the Online Parish clerk for Tintagel is Keith Hughes.

Census records
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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 [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