Falmouth History Archive Newsletter April 2017

Falmouth History Archive

Newsletter and
Research Notes

Issue 4, Spring 2017

Welcome to the fourth Falmouth History Archive
Newsletter

We are the volunteers of the Falmouth History Archive at the Poly. Our
newsletter title has changed to add "Research Notes" as some of the
content is very old news indeed!. Our main research item is a history of
the Falmouth Observatories (in the first of two parts), drawn from the
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society's archive.

You are welcome to visit us in the Chellew Room on Tuesday and
Thursday mornings between 10 and 12, or at other times by appointment.
We also welcome research queries - although we cannot guarantee
having all the answers! Contact us via the Poly website or our mailbox
(details on the last page).

Plaque on the Observatory Tower, CONTENTS 2-5
Falmouth 6
Events, Talks and 7-10
Page 1 Newsletter 4 Activities 11

The Tomb in the Wall 12

The Falmouth
Observatories
Part One - the Tower

Falmouth's Radioactive
History

 Falmouth Gaol
 Commonwealth War

Graves at Falmouth
Cemetery
 Contact details

Spring 2017

EVENTS, TALKS AND ACTIVITIES

We’ve had an extremely busy start to the year hosting talks, group visits and our
very first Falmouth History Week.

Talks

Our regular talks programme continues to be very popular with all talks so far this
year a sell-out and two needing second dates. Special thanks to Falmouth History
Archive volunteers Jill Harris and Peter Searle and our friends in the community for
sharing their research and knowledge.

The final date in our Spring Talks programme is Tuesday 23rd May when
award winning maritime historian Peter Skidmore will share his extensive
knowledge of The Trade in Manganese from Cornwall to Liverpool in the early
19th century. Book early as spaces are limited.

We have a great range of speakers lined up for the Autumn and we are starting to
book ahead for 2018. Do let us know if you have any special requests or
suggestions for speakers.

Falmouth History Week

Our very first Falmouth History Week took place at the end of February.
Thanks to funding from the National Lottery, we were able to offer a range of
activities and events for people of all ages to discover the history of the Falmouth
area, find out “Who Lived in a Place Like This” and come together to celebrate
Cornish culture.

Activities ranged from an Archive Day and exhibitions from 12 local archives to
performances, workshops, a schools art competition and a Family Fun Day. The
week was a great success with over 1300 visitors and nearly 200 entries to the art
competition. We also produced a popular Falmouth Quiz Trail for people to discover
the history of the town – copies of which are still available from the Poly Box Office
for just 50 pence.

We were delighted by the success of the week and would like to thank the wide
range of volunteers, other community archives, schools, businesses and performers
who got involved, helping us to offer a range of different ways for people to discover
and celebrate our heritage. Special thanks to the speakers and individuals who
helped with the archive day, our archive friends who put together the great
exhibitions, the local businesses who provided competition prizes, the 10th Falmouth
Guides for their enthusiasm and support and the many volunteers who helped out
during the week.
Individuals: Michael Bradley, Alan Cox, Ann Hicks, David Saunby, Jean Carr,
Michael Carver, Tom Weller
Archives: Cornwall Family History Society, Penryn Museum, National Maritime
Museum Cornwall, Flushing History Group, Falmouth Town Council, The Institute of
Cornish Studies, Exeter University, Constantine Museum, Cornwall Archive and
Cornish Studies Service.
Prize Donors: Fal River Cornwall, Scruffy Mutt Theatre, English Heritage, National
Maritime Museum Cornwall, The Poly.

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We aim to build on this in future so please let us know if you would like to get
involved or have suggestions of creative ways to explore the history of our town.
Meanwhile don’t forget to pick up your Quiz Trail and discover our historic town.

Fun in Falmouth Art
competition winners with
Falmouth Mayor
Councillor Grenville
Chappell
Image – Falmouth Packet

Visitors meet volunteers from
local archives at the Archive Day

Young people writing songs with
local musician Ashley Height at
the Fun Day

Page 3 Newsletter 4 Spring 2017

People enjoyed our
“What are they
saying? “activity.

Tom Weller’s maps attracted a lot of interest
during the week

Visiting the Archive

Do you have a question about the history of Falmouth or stories to share? We are
open to the public every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am to 12 noon. You
are welcome to drop in to have a browse, ask questions and order copies of images
from the Archive but please be aware that we can get really busy and may have to
get back to you. If you have a specific query it would be really helpful if you
could email us [email protected] or send us a Facebook message in
advance. We can also arrange visits outside of these times.

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Don’t forget to keep an eye on our Facebook page
www.facebook.com/FalmouthHistoryArchive for updates about what’s coming
up and get in touch if you would like to get involved with our archive.

Amanda Rundle, Volunteer

Autumn 2017 talks and events

September 14th - Falmouth and D Day
Talk (Theatre) Roddy de Normann

October 3rd - Talk Funding the Ladder - the Passmore Edwards Legacy
Dean Evans

October 24th - Talk Local Church Histories - People, Places, Events
Adrian Speller

November 14th - Falmouth in the First World War
18th (in the Spring Gallery)

Exhibition

November 14th - Falmouth in the First World War
Talk Volunteers talk about topics in the Exhibition

November 18th - National "Explore Your Archives" Week
26th

See the Poly Website for booking details

Some Recent Accessions into the Archive

 Programmes from the London Cornish Association and assorted press
cuttings (from the estate of Paul Smales). The programmes have been
passed to the Cornwall Records Office as of Cornwall wide interest.

 Local interest papers including photographs of the Duchy Oyster Farm and
oyster dredging in the Helford River.

 A Prince of Wales Pier ticket.

 The memoirs of Falmouth's first Postmaster, Newberry Cox, sent to us by his
descendants in Canada

Page 5 Newsletter 4 Spring 2017

THE TOMB IN THE WALL

`

This grand tomb, at the foot of the steps leading up across the old churchyard from
Gyllyng Street to Wodehouse Terrace, opposite the former Mortuary, has always
been the subject of much intrigue. It was evidently constructed for a person of some
standing but little of the original inscription is now evident and legible. What we see,
with some difficulty, is:

“….NDER ROYAL

WHO DEPARTED THIS

…. FEBRUARY 187….

IN HIS 81 .. YEAR”

So who is buried here?

The records in the Falmouth History Archive name him as Thomas Arundel LEWIS
who died on 23 February 1875. Further investigation (from secondary sources)
records that Thomas was born in Westminster, London on 22 July 1794 to Thomas
and Carolina LEWIS. He entered the Royal Navy on 13 June 1808, was promoted to
Lieutenant on 23 June 1821, and retired as Commander on 16 October 1856. He
married Emma GARDNER (a minor, with her father’s consent) on 1 July 1832. The
Census of 1851 for Falmouth records Thomas and Emma living at Trewennack
House with seven children (the last four of whom were born in Falmouth) and a
servant.

During his time in the Royal Navy, Thomas served on various Royal Navy ships,
including Bulwark, Severn, Superb, Melville and Galatea (sound familiar today?).
But, of most interest to us in Falmouth was his service, from 9 May 1842 to June
1847, as Lieutenant Commander commanding HM Brig Crane. The Crane was one
of the last generation of Falmouth Packet ships to be built, and one of the very last
vessels to operate in the Falmouth Packet service, eventually leaving the service in
1850. Under Thomas’s command, the Crane recorded some remarkable passages
to and from South America.

It would seem that the five years Thomas spent as captain of the Crane, based in
Falmouth with his family, made such an impression on him that he decided that he
would remain here forever. Who can blame him? We understand why!

Peter Searle, Volunteer

Page 6 Newsletter 4 Spring 2017

THE FALMOUTH OBERVATORIES

PART ONE - The Tower

In 1867 the Meteorological Committee of the Royal Society decided that a series of
Meteorological Stations around the British Isles was needed ‘to give accurate data

for the discussion of the law of
storms and weather changes’
and ‘to throw a totally new light
on the study of the weather’.
Seven stations would be set up,
at Falmouth, Kew and
Stonyhurst, two in Scotland, and
two in Ireland, to be run by local
organisations.

The Falmouth station could be
the most important, especially
for shipping, being the most
southerly, and the first to record
storms coming up the Channel.
General Sabine, President of
the Royal Society and also a
member of the RCPS, pointed
out that a scientific organisation
already existed in Falmouth
which would be well able to
carry out these duties.

The RCPS encouraged this suggestion, and Alfred Fox met Mr Balfour Stewart at
the Royal Observatory at Kew to discover what would be needed. The site should
be on elevated ground, as open as possible, high enough to record the winds
uninterrupted, and the building should be suitable as a residence for the Observer.
The RCPS Committee should select a few sites for his consideration.

Three sites on Bowling Green Hill were chosen, and Mr Stewart approved them all,
leaving it to the Society to make the decision. The chosen site in Victoria Cottages,
behind 1 Florence Place, consisted of a stable, which must be demolished and
replaced by a purpose-built tower.

The Society certainly could not afford such a construction, but agreed with a local
builder, Mr Roberts (also a member of the RCPS) that he would put up such a
building at his own expense, which he would then lease to the Society for £60 a
year, for a 21 year period.

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Only three months later, the building was up, though the land had to be extended
slightly to accommodate a Gasometer. This presented no problem, as Mr Roberts
already owned the extension land as well as the main plot, and this was leased for
an extra £5 a year. Mr Lovell Squire, a Quaker minister and longstanding member of
the Society, was appointed Observer at a salary of £100 a year. The Met Council
would provide a grant of £250 a year to cover the rent, the salaries of the Observer
and an Assistant, and incidentals.

This was no sinecure; the duties of the Observer and his Assistant, Mr Edward Kitto,
were minutely prescribed by the Society’s Meteorological Committee and the Met
Office in London. Readings of the barometer and thermometers must be taken five
times a day; at 9.30 all clocks and the chronometer had to be wound; at 10 the rain
gauge must be replaced; the instruments must be cleaned and oiled regularly; and
many other duties filled the day. Reports had to be sent to the Met Office every
Tuesday and Thursday, and weekly, monthly and annual reports had to be prepared
for publication

The functions and importance of the Falmouth Observatory grew steadily. A
Climatological Station was set up at 8 Florence Place. Sea temperatures were taken
off the coast and at Falmouth Docks, since weather observations were of great value
to the fishing fleet. In 1881 Mr Gill was authorised to set up a Second Order
Climatological and Meteorological Station in Helston, in his house and meadow,
under the supervision of the RCPS. There was also a suggestion that a
Climatological Station be set up in Flushing ‘to show the genial nature of the climate
there, particularly in winter.’ This idea was not followed up, although it might have
proved interesting to compare the conditions across the river. Flushing inhabitants
have always claimed the balmiest weather in the British Isles.

Page 8 Newsletter 4 Spring 2017

Eventually the many duties and the task of climbing the stairs several times a day
became too much for Mr Squire, and he suggested that his son and family move into
the Tower to help him. This proposal was refused, since it was likely to intrude on
the authority of the Assistant Observer, Mr Edward Kitto, who was also Assistant
Secretary of the Society.

In 1882 Mr Squire resigned, as the many duties
were affecting his health. The position was
offered to Mr Kitto (left), who now moved into
the Tower with Mrs Kitto as Assistant, and
continued the recordings until three years later,
when a bolt fell from the Meteorological blue.

The Meteorological Council suddenly proposed
to withdraw the all-important grant. The reason
given was that some of the country’s seven
First Class Observatories were no longer
valuable, and in any case the Falmouth station
was badly placed ‘in a confined site’ above the
harbour – although the site had been approved
fifteen years before.

This would have proved damaging to the
Society after only 15 years of their 21 year
lease, quite apart from the abrupt termination of
the extensive arrangements that had been
carefully followed since 1867 – painstaking and meticulous work of which the Society
was justly proud. The Council’s proposal must be contested.

A Memorial written by Professor John Couch Adams showed strong evidence for the
importance of the Falmouth Observatory, particularly to shipping. The Earl of
Kimberley met with General Strachey, Chairman of the Meteorological Committee;
Professor Adams’s Memorial was published in The Times; and consideration was
given to raising the matter in the House of Commons. General Strachey offered -
reluctantly, one suspects - a grant of £100 a year for the Society to run a small
observatory on the Lizard, which was refused as being unmanageable.

Eventually, in June 1883 a Deputation met the Meteorological Council in their
London offices. The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe chaired the meeting, at which the
Society was represented by 21 members including eight M.P.s, three Professors,
and three of the leading Cornish landowners.

Reporters asked to be allowed to attend – the Society agreed, but the Meteorological
Council replied ‘Certainly not!’

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Mr Jenkins, MP for Falmouth, led off and wanted to know the reasons for
withdrawing such a small grant, and what arguments supported ‘so strange a
proposal’ (Applause). He had sailed past Falmouth for over 30 years, and always
found the weather changeable.

Sir Joseph Pease represented the largest shipping constituency in the kingdom, and
ship owners valued the Falmouth Observatory very much, as he did when ‘going to
sea in his own little craft’.

General Strachey pointed out that these observations did not touch the question
before them. (Oh! ) The work of a single observatory was not of great value.

Mr Pendarves Vivian pointed out the importance of the £250 grant to a valuable
scientific Society – a small proportion of the Meteorological Council’s annual grant of
£15,300.

Gen Strachey replied that there were a hundred places that could put forward a
claim as good as Falmouth’s. (No! No!)

Professor Couch Adams gave a long and carefully reasoned speech claiming that
the records provided by the Society were absolutely invaluable as a continuous
record, receiving the first weather reports from the Atlantic.

Sir John St Aubyn stated that the first thing that foreign men-of-war did on entering
Falmouth was to visit the Observatory to discover the weather conditions.

Gen Strachey declared that in discontinuing the Falmouth Observatory, the Council
was guided by scientific reasons (Professor Adams: I don’t agree with you.)

Professor Smyth pointed out that most accidents occurring in the mines in the north
resulted from uncertainty about the weather, and the owners were demanding
observatories of their own. It would be a doubtful policy to abolish an old one which
already existed in a mining area.

More arguments were put forward until the Council decided to reconsider, and finally
agreed that the £250 grant would be continued for five years, if a suitable new
observatory were built in Falmouth at the Society’s expense.

This was agreed, the old Tower was released to Mr Roberts, and has passed
through a number of hands since then. A camera obscura was installed on the top
floor, and in June 2010 the Tower was renovated to make a slim vertical house with
a 360 degree wraparound window, with the camera obscura still in place.

Today the Poly Tower still decorates the skyline, the first building the sailor sees as
he looks to the sky to see what is happening to the weather.

Michael Carver, Volunteer

The Observatories story will conclude in the next issue of the Archive Newsletter.

Page 10 Newsletter 4 Spring 2017

FALMOUTH'S RADIOACTIVE HISTORY

In June 1914, the Falmouth Packet reported that radioactive water from Cornish
mines was selling in London for up to £3.10s (today about £360) for "medicinal
purposes". Locally, adits at "Roskrow United Mines at Perranarworthal" were said
to have been re-opened by Messrs Tresidder and Doidge in order to supply this
market. Also around that time, detailed plans were drawn up for a grand "Hydro-
Hotel" to be constructed on the cliff top immediately west of Gyllyngvase beach. As
well as Baths, Billiards and a Bandstand, the plan included a prospective "Radium
Well" in the grounds.

The new hotel was Eleanor Williams, Volunteer
never constructed, but Spring 2017
following use as a
military hospital during
the war, the former
Pendennis Hotel (now
the Royal Duchy) was
renamed the "Falmouth
Hydro" and as this
cutting shows, was still
offering Radioactive
Drinking Water to
clients in 1925!

Page 11 Newsletter 4

FALMOUTH GAOL - WHO KNEW?

The first Town Gaol in Falmouth was built in 1660, but where? "The prison lies at
the end of the town, about 40 feet above the level of t he sea, and distant from it 50
yards...to contain 8 prisoners, four of each sex; ...none but persons accused of petty
offences confined here and these generally only for a short time...The rooms are not
warmed by fire, so that in very cold weather the prisoners must feel some
inconvenience, the windows not being glazed." (from the Report of the Committee of
the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and the Reformation of
Juvenile Offenders, 1818)
Tom Weller provided this reference in response to recent request from an Open
University research project . We also know that a new Town Gaol was built around
1831, in Prince Street (which ran from the top of the High Street, where the Prince
Street Gardens now stand). This was in use until the 1860's, after which prisoners
would have been taken to the Gaol at Bodmin.

The OU project is continuing and if anyone has any more information on the old
Town Gaols we would be pleased to add it to our archive.

Eleanor Williams, Volunteer

Commonwealth War Graves at Falmouth Cemetery

Newsletter 3 included a report of a research request about a Belgian soldier, Otto
Tholander, buried in Falmouth Cemetery during World War One. As part of the
research, volunteer Barry Kelly photographed his memorial.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website (www.cwgc.org) has pages
for War Graves sites. That for Falmouth lists 165 identified casualties spread
across the cemetery, but the accompanying photograph was not of Falmouth. This
has now been rectified with a photograph provided by Barry .

To photograph all the memorials would be a major project, but other memorials will
be photographed on request or as part of future research.

FALMOUTH HISTORY ARCHIVE @ THE POLY
24 CHURCH STREET
FALMOUTH
TR11 3EG

www.thepoly.org [email protected]

Facebook: falmouthhistoryarchive

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