Parish of Perranzabuloe
| These are lines taken from a letter by Zoe Schnepple (maiden
name Exter), daughter of Simeon Exter, Albert Exter's brother. In 1985 she traveled to
Cornwall England to visit her mother's Parish Perranzabuloe (Mary Elizabeth Exter, maiden
name James). |
| Bill took some beautiful pictures. I didn't even bother to take
a camera. It was thrilling to know that Grandma and Grandpa were married in the little
church in 1883, 102 years ago! She was less than 19 years old. As I looked around and saw
all the greenery, I thought how disappointing it must have been to go to Kelly where everything was so dry and barren, and so far
away from family and friends.
Perranzabuloe is on the map,
but when we got there we found that there was no village, it is a Parish that covers many
farms. We inquired at a little grocery store along the road, but no one knew of any
Richards, James or Exters. The hedgerows were so high along the roads that you couldn't
see any farm houses until you got on a high spot. There were no street signs or numbers.
There were some mines nearby, tin and china clay. Forbes seems to
remember that the mine in Kelly was owned by some English company, so that explains why
Grandpa (Simeon I) was sent to Kelly. We really didn't have time to track things down. We
had allotted only a day to the area and I could have spent a week there.
The Parish was not far from Perranporth, which was right on the
Atlantic Ocean, cold and windy. It was quite a large town, but there was no Harrison
Studio there. |
The present St. Pirran Church built in 1803.
| The original Pirran church had been built there but the sand
finally covered it. The next church, built farther inland, also had to be abandoned
because of drifting sand. The present St. Pirran Church was built in 1803. We walked
through the cemetery at the church and, after searching, found an old tombstone with the
names of William James and his wife Dorothy. Then there was a more recent one with just
William James.
Inside the church we found a list of
contributors carved on one wall. When the church was built, the Prince of Wales, Duke of
Cornwall gave 32 £,
the Vicar of Exeter Cathedral gave 27 £, then other names of outsiders and locals, including the laborers. All
together it cost 790 £ |
| Mary Elizabeth Exter as she sat in her Rocking chair on the porch of the Exter
boarding house in Kelly, New Mexico in the early 1900's. |
The Exter boarding house in Kelly, New Mexico in the early 1900's. |
