Place:St. John, Cornwall, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

St. John (Cornish: Sen Yowann) is a coastal civil parish and a village in southeast Cornwall, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Saltash and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of Torpoint.

The parish is opposite Plymouth, separated from it by St John's Lake, an inlet of The Hamoaze in Plymouth Sound. The population of St John parish was 375 in the 2001 census. To the north, the parish is bordered by St John's Lake and to the south by the sea. To the east, the parish is bordered by Millbrook, to the south-east by Maker-with-Rame and to the west by Antony parish.

St. John was part of the East Hundred of Cornwall and in St. Germans Rural District between 1894 and 1974.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of St. John from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"JOHN (ST.), a village and a parish in St. Germans district, Cornwall. The village stands at the head of a branch of the Hamoaze, called St. John's lake, opposite Devonport town and [railway] station, and 5½ miles SE by E of St. Germans. The parish extends to the English Channel; and comprises 698 acres of land, and 125 of water. Post town, Devonport. Real property: £1,094. Population in 1851: 155; in 1861: 213. Houses: 38. The increase of population arose from the temporary presence of labourers at the erection of forts. The manor formerly belonged to the Champernowns, and belongs now to Deeble Boger, Esq. Tregenhawke belonged to the Trevilles, and others; and passed to Lord Graves. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value: £179. Patron: W. H. Pole Carew, Esq. The church measures 56 feet by 18: and was restored in 1866."

Research Tips

One of the many maps available on A Vision of Britain through Time is one from the Ordnance Survey Series of 1900 illustrating the parish boundaries of Cornwall at the turn of the 20th century. This map blows up to show all the parishes and many of the small villages and hamlets.

The following websites have pages explaining their provisions in WeRelate's Repository Section. Some provide free online databases.

• Repository:Cornwall Record Office
• Repository:Cornish Studies Library
• Repository:Cornwall Family History Society
• Repository:Cornwall Online Parish Clerks
• Repository:Cornwall Online Census Project
• Repository:West Briton Transcripts Database (Transcriptions from a Cornish newspaper of 1836-1887)

• GENUKI makes a great many suggestions as to other websites with worthwhile information about Cornwall as well as providing 19th century descriptions of each of the ecclesiastical parishes.
• FamilySearch Wiki provides a similar information service to GENUKI which may be more up-to-date.
• A Vision of Britain through Time has

1. organization charts of the hierarchies of parishes within hundreds, registration districts and rural and urban districts of the 20th century
2. excerpts from a gazetteer of circa 1870 outlining individual towns and parishes
3. reviews of population through the time period 1800-1960

• More local sources can often be found by referring to "What Links Here" in the column on the left.

https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/CON/Jacobstow

• For its Devon connections, consult the list of "Research Tips" to be found for Plymouth.