Having recognised Cornwall as a leader in mining expertise, Latin America had begun to recruit miners from the region by the 1820s and continued to do so until the 1930s. Many of the defining features of overseas Cornish migration during the 19th century have their roots in Latin America.

Cornish labour in South America

In the early 19th century, South America’s once great gold and silver mines lay derelict. In contrast, Cornwall’s booming mining industry had given it a reputation as one of the world’s leading mining regions. Subsequently, South America looked to Cornwall to provide the technology and expertise that would regenerate its once thriving industry. By the 1830s Cornish miners were already being recruited to work mines across the continent.

As new mineral deposits discovered across the Americas forced world prices down, the Cornish industry suffered. This increased the numbers of Cornish mine workers choosing to migrate in search of better prospects, strengthening existing transnational communities.

Morro Velho

The community of Morro Velho grew up around the gold mine of the same name in Brazil. From 1830, this was worked by the St John del Rey Mining Company who recruited British labour and encouraged their families to join them. It was the Cornish who made up the majority of the British immigrants that settled in Brazil. There were about 350 Cornish settlers working at the mining camp in the 1860s through to the 1920s.

Gonco Soco

The Gongo Soco gold mine was purchased in 1825 by the British financed Imperial Brazilian Mining Company. Again, Cornish miners made up the majority of the European work force. Cornish labour was recruited on 3-5 year contracts resulting in a high turnover of men. As the miners travelled back and forth between South America and Britain, Gonco Soco became well-known to the mining communities around Gwennap and Redruth.

Cousin Jack’s legacy

Cornish settlers introduced many things to South America. Some of the cultural impact is still prominent today. Architectural style and cuisine have been influenced in some regions by the Cornish. Young Cornish mine workers helped to popularise Brazil’s favourite sporting pursuit of football at the nearby Nova Lima. The St John Del Ray Company even donated the ground for the Vila Nova Athletic Club’s football stadium.

By the 1930s the transnational links between Brazil and Cornwall began to break down as fewer Cornish were recruited. Some eventually returned home to Cornwall where they acknowledged their ties with South America in their house names; there is a cottage named Nova Lima in Pool near Redruth and until recently a house in Helston was known as Minas Gerais.

The expertise and innovation that the Cornish brought with them had a profound effect on American mining. The cultural influence of the 'Cousin Jacks' is still apparent in some regions today.

Cornish migration to North America

By the mid-19th century, new competition had emerged in the copper industry. The discovery of new deposits in the Americas and Australia had forced world prices down, which affected the fortunes of Cornwall and west Devon’s mines. As mining became prevalent in North America, Cornish men and women began to migrate there in search of a better wages and prospects.

The Cornish brought their hard rock mining expertise to the USA, working lead deposits in Wisconsin and Illinois in the 1830s and copper fields in Michigan in the 1840s before joining in with the California gold rush.

"... (The Cornish) knew better than anyone how to break rock, how to timber bad ground, and how to make the other fellow shovel it, tram it and hoist it."

- Thomas A. Rickard, A History of American Mining (1932)

Driving innovation and efficiency

Innovative mining techniques introduced by the Cornish settlers had a huge influence on North America’s mining industry. Many subsequent inventions in America’s mining industry were achieved by men of Cornish descent. They also introduced contract mining, where miners worked for 10-15% of the proceeds instead of a daily wage. Mineral production increased significantly due to this incentivised pay structure.

Notable settlements

One place which saw a great deal of Cornish immigration was Grass Valley, home to one of California’s richest mines (the Empire Mine). In 1894 over 60% of the 6,000 population of Grass Valley was thought to be from Cornwall. It is now twinned with the Cornish town of Bodmin.

In the 1830s lead mining opportunities in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, started to attract Cornish immigrants and their families. By 1845, roughly half the town’s population had Cornish ancestry. Today, Mineral Point remains proud of its Cornish heritage and is twinned with the Cornish town of Redruth. There are estimated to be close to 2 million people of Cornish descent in the USA.

Cousin Jack’s legacy

As with other settlements around the globe, Cornish mine workers took their traditions and pastimes with them to America, some of which are still practised in some communities today. In Grass Valley, Cornish carol singing is a continuing tradition. Some members of the city’s Cornish Carol Choir are in fact descendants of the original gold miners who settled in the area. The town takes pride in its Cornish heritage, with annual Cornish Christmas and St Piran’s Day celebrations.

Passionate about pasties

The Cornish pasty is still a popular food in many mining regions of America, including Grass Valley where one local company, Cousin Jack’s, takes its name from the Cornish settlers. Pasties are also particularly popular in the mining region of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan known as the Copper Country. Calumet in this area hosts an annual Pasty Fest. During the festival there are Pasty eating contests, games and a tug of war where the losers must jump into an inflatable pool filled with tomato ketchup!

Latin America’s recognition of Cornish miners as world leaders in the industry not only allowed them to revive their own derelict mines, but also paved the way for the Cornish to export their technology and labour globally.

The rise and fall of Mexico's mining industry

Mexico has a long history of mining that dates back almost 500 years. During this time its industry flourished, primarily in silver production, but also in gold, mercury and copper. However, by the early 19th century Mexico’s mines lay in ruins in the wake of civil war. In contrast, Cornwall’s mining industry was thriving and the development of its mining technology meant it had become world-renowned.

At this time, Mexico considered the mining industry to be the cornerstone of economic success and looked to Britain to provide the capital, technology and skilled labour to revive its once great industry.

Real del Monte

The region of Real del Monte (also known as Mineral del Monte) near Pachuca boasted many rich silver mines. These were sold to the British backed Real del Monte Mining Company following the devastation caused by Mexico’s War of Independence from Spain. By the 1830s a large Cornish community had established itself in Real del Monte, the majority of these migrants coming from Camborne and Redruth. During this time many of the defining characteristics of Cornwall’s 19th century mining influence emerged. Notably, the system of home pay (or remittances), which was to be so important to the Cornish economy at the end of the 19th century, was established in Latin America.

Cousin Jack’s legacy

Cornish settlers also had a profound effect on the culture of the State of Hidalgo in Mexico, which is still apparent in Pachuca and Real del Monte today.

There are hints of Cornish presence in the architecture in Real del Monte, with the extensive use of pitched roofs, formerly unknown in Mexico. There are also two distinctively Cornish engine houses near Pachuca (named El Corteza and San Pedro) and two more at Real del Monte (Dolores and Acosta). These indicate something of the influence the steam technology of Cornwall had at the time. The Cornish also introduced a number of leisure activities to Mexico, including traditional Cornish hymn singing and Cornish wrestling, although these never reached the popularity they did further north in the United States.

Mexican wave

It was Cornish miners who introduced football to Mexico. The country’s first football club – Pachuca Athletic Club – originally comprised exclusively of Cornish mine workers. The Mexican League of Association Football was established in 1902. The first championship was played that same year and in the 1904-1905 tournament it was El Pachuca that won first place. To this day the city of Pachuca still prides itself as being the home of Mexican football.  

Little Cornwall

Cornish miners also introduced the Cornish Pasty to Mexico. Versions of the dish made with chilli peppers, known as pastes, are still considered a local specialty in the State of Hidalgo. The area of Pachuca and Real del Monte is now being marketed as Mexico's 'Little Cornwall'. 

As Cornwall’s copper and tin industry faded, South Africa’s mining industry prospered. During their time in South Africa, the Cousin Jacks introduced some of their preferred activities, including one pastime that remains quite popular with the locals to this day.

Cornish migration to South Africa

Diamonds discovered by the Orange River in South Africa in the late 1860s prompted a diamond rush in 1870. By 1872, Kimberly was home to diamond quarries worked by 2,500 miners and 10,000 hired labourers.

The Cornish had long since started to export their mining techniques and labour around the globe and many migrated to South Africa to seek their fortune. More came in even greater numbers for the gold rushes in the 1880s, in particular the Witwatersrand gold rush of 1886. This is the world’s largest known deposit of gold and many Cornishmen went to the then South African Republic (also known as the Transvaal) where their hard rock mining experience could be put to good use.

Political impact

Before the Second Boer War an estimated 25% of the white work force was Cornish. The sheer numbers of Cornish immigrants had caused a decline in the population of some Cornish parishes, which were now largely sustained by the miners’ remittances. An estimated sum close to £1 million a year was being sent from the Transvaal alone at the turn of the 19th century. This caused friction with the Kruger government, whose decision to tax the immigrants without legislative representation was one of the many reasons that led to the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899. During the Second Boer War many of the Cornish settlers returned home.

Cousin Jack’s legacy

Cornwall’s influence on South Africa is one of the most prominent in the world. The prevalence of Cornish surnames, such as Tregonning, and place names, such as New Redruth in Johannesburg, are examples of the settlers’ legacy. Cornish miners also introduced many of their eating habits to the region, with saffron cakes and Cornish Pasties still popular in some parts.

It was Cornish miners who first introduced rugby union to South Africa. Rugby was to become one of the nation’s favourite sports and South Africa were crowned world champions as recently as 2007.

Johannesburg

Though gold was first discovered near Krugersdorp in the 1850s was not until 1874 that the first commercial mining took place in Johannesburg at Blaauwbank. Gold was mined in a number of localities until 1886 and the historic discovery of the Witwatersrand Main Reef which sparked the Gold Rush. Thousands of mineworkers from Cornwall soon joined immigrants from elsewhere in Europe and North America and before the Second Anglo-Boer War 25 per cent of all white workers on the Rand are said to have been Cornish. The Cornish were instrumental in popularising rugby, introduced Cornish Wrestling and built many Methodist Chapels. Considerable sums in worker’s remittances were also sent back to families in Cornwall contributing greatly to the economies of the Central Mining District - Redruth and Camborne.     

O’okiep, Namaqualand

O’okiep is the site of the oldest mining town in South Africa. Following the discovery of significant copper deposits there in 1855 the town experienced a significant increase in population as mineworkers travelled in from elsewhere in Africa and Europe. The controlling Cape Copper Mining Company was largely managed by experienced Cornish, and Cornish work practises were to predominate. Methodism was much to the fore and wrestling, carol singing and brass bands were popular. The most readily appreciable symbol of Cornish mining today is the 50 inch Cornish pumping engine which survives in its original house. Constructed in 1882 by the Harveys Foundry in Hayle, Cornwall, this is the only remaining in situ engine of its type in the southern hemisphere.

The Great Copper Boom

In 1841, Wheal Gawler at Glen Osmond became the first metal mine in Australia. Copper was then discovered in Kapunda and Burra, where mining began in 1844 and 1845 respectively. More settlers, including Cornish miners and their families, were drawn to Southern Australia to take part in the great copper boom and by 1850 the region had developed into the third largest copper producer in the world.

The Copper Triangle

In 1859 a shepherd discovered traces of copper in South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula. This prompted a rush for mining leases. Soon after, mines had been established in Moonta, Kadina and Wallaroo.

The area roughly bordered by these three towns became known as the Copper Triangle as a result.

Thanks to the Cornish settlers’ expertise and advanced machinery, the Copper Triangle flourished:

Moonta Mine was the first mine in Australia to pay one million pounds in dividends

Moonta contained the country’s second largest urban population behind Adelaide

The Moonta Company produced more than $10 million worth of copper

The Moonta-Wallaroo mines produced around 350,000 tonnes of copper – this was nearly half the total mineral production of South Australia up to 1924.

By 1865, Cornish settlers were thought to make up over 42% of South Australia’s immigrant population. Because of this, the Yorke Peninsula later became known as Australia’s “Little Cornwall” and by 1875 Moonta’s copper output had surpassed that of Cornwall.

Australia’s Little Cornwall

South Australia owes its global status as a copper region to Cornwall’s mining expertise and the area is proud of its Cornish connections to this day. Kernewek Lowender (Cornish for ‘Cornish happiness’) is a festival held every two years in the Copper Triangle to celebrate the region’s ties to Cornwall. It was established in 1973 and hosted 20,000 visitors in its first year. Typically the event brings around 30,000 participants to the region.

The festival comprises seven days’ worth of traditional Cornish-style celebrations, such as Furry Dancing and Maypole Performances. Traditional Cornish foods are also served and it claims to be the largest Cornish festival outside of Cornwall itself.

Cornwall’s legacy in Australia

Cornish mine workers brought with them to Australia much of the culture and many customs from their homeland. The game of rugby union was popularised there due to the Celtic nation’s passion for the sport. In 1908, a national side from Australia visited and played in Cornwall.

Today, around 10% of South Australia’s inhabitants are of Cornish descent. At least six of Australia’s Premiers have been of Cornish ancestry

The miners also brought Cornwall’s trademark dish over with them; Cornish Pasties were made popular in mining settlements in Australia and are still served in these areas.

Swanky Beer is a Cornish Australian beer that also used to be taken to the mines. The terms were bought from Cornish migrants and it is still brewed in the Yorke Peninsula today.

At the start of the 19th century, Cornwall’s mining industry was thriving. The industrial revolution and the development of high-pressure steam power meant Cornish mining was becoming world-renowned for its sophistication.

The global mining industry was heavily influenced by Cornish miners for almost a century.

However, later that century, new deposits discovered across the world globalised the mining market, creating increased competition which took its toll on Cornwall’s industry. As the export of Cornish technology had enabled other countries to capitalise on the mining boom, so Cornish miners began to migrate in search of better pay and conditions.

A workforce on the move

The extraordinary story of Cornish migration is inextricably linked to the rise and subsequent decline of its mining industry. Cornish miners had been migrating from the 1700s within Cornwall and then to other parts of the British Isles. In the early 1800s the industrial region of Cornwall and west Devon were believed to possess the best contemporary mining expertise in Europe and had begun to export its technology, capital and skilled labour.

Transatlantic expertise

It was the export of high-pressure steam engines perfected by Richard Trevithick and his contemporaries to the silver mines of Peru in 1814-18 that marked the transatlantic migration of the Industrial Revolution. The introduction of the latest technology in less industrialised mining regions necessitated the export from Cornwall of everything from steam engines and boilers to ropes and crucibles together with the staff to mine, process, organise and administer these enterprises. This heralded the beginning of a modern, integrated global mining economy and paved the way for British capital investment in overseas mining enterprises from the early 1820s. As a result, the global mining industry was heavily influenced by Cornish miners for almost a century.

Lead, copper, gold and diamonds

The Cornish rehabilitated abandoned mines across Latin America in the 1820s and were the first real hard rock miners in the USA. They worked lead deposits in Wisconsin and Illinois and copper and lead deposits in Norway and Spain in the 1830s, as well as copper fields in South Australia and in Michigan in the 1840s.

Without the introduction of the Cornish engine, deep lode mining in California after the 1849 gold rush (e.g. Grass Valley and Nevada City) would have been considerably delayed. The discovery of diamonds in South Africa in the late 1860s followed by the Transvaal gold rush a decade later created opportunities for significant migration from Cornwall in the three decades following the 1880s. The migration of Cornish miners gave rise to Cornish communities that are still active all over the world.

Today there are thought to be over 6 million people of Cornish descent worldwide.

The UK

Cornish miners were drawn to other areas of Britain, particularly the North East where their skills could be put to good use in the coal mines. There is a concentration of Cornish surnames around the area of Teesside which persists to this day. Another area where Cornish miners settled was Roose in Cumbria, where iron mining was the draw. In 1881, 70% of the population of Roose had Cornish birthplaces.

• Cumbria

Moor Row on the coastal fringes of Cumbria had experienced an influx of Cornish mineworkers and their families by the 1870s.

The Montreal Mines adjoining the town were eventually to produce 250,000 tons of haematite iron ore per year, the largest of any operation in the Whitehaven/Furness district.

Around 1,000 workers were employed by the mines in total here and the presence of a Penzance Street in the town gives an indication of the influence of the Cornish in the latter nineteenth century.

• Somerset

Historic treats from Cornish mining in Somerset still exist today, at 'Burrow Farm Mine' and 'Dodington'.

Burrow Farm Mine, Brendon Hills

The Burrow Farm Mine was established around 1860 for iron ore (haematite) and by 1868 the excavations had progressed to the stage where a pumping engine was required to dewater the workings. A 25-inch Cornish beam engine was installed at this time by the then Mine Captain Henry Skewis from Cornwall, though the ore reserves were to prove uneconomic and the mine closed the following year. Today the preserved engine house can be visited via footpaths along the former mineral railway track bed from Naked Boy’s Bridge.

Dodington, Quantock Hills

Cornish mineworkers are known to have been employed in copper mining on the Quantocks from the late eighteenth century. The Fox family of Cornwall were to have extensive mining interests in the Dodington area, and Samuel and Matthew Grose and William Jenkin, of Redruth, were employed to manage the mines themselves which were to close in 1822. Two engine houses survive associated with the mines, at the Beech Grove and Glebe shafts respectively.  

• Wales

Wales experienced an explosion of activity in mining for lead, copper and silver.

Cornish miners were involved in the metal mines of Wales. One of these was the Llywernog Mine which was leased in 1825 to the Williams family of Scorrier House in Gwennap. This began a long association between the mining districts of Cardiganshire and Cornwall that continued through to the 1900s. As Cornish continued to migrate to Wales, they took with them their beliefs and culture, building Methodist chapels in the mining villages. They also introduced aspects of their regional vernacular to Welsh mining communities, calling mine managers ‘captains’ and the mine accountant a ‘purser’.

Dorothea, Dyffryn Nantlle

An impressive 60-inch Cornish design pumping engine, constructed by Holman Brothers of Camborne, survives at Dorothea which was installed in 1906 to dewater the 600 ft (180m) deep slate quarry. This was to work until pumping was switched from steam to electric in 1951.  

Frongoch

This former lead and zinc mine near Pontrhydygroes in mid Wales dates from the late 1750s and by the 1820s the workings were leased by the Williams family of Scorrier, Cornwall. The leases were subsequently acquired by the renowned mining speculators John Taylor & Son and managed by the Francis family of Cornwall. A 60-inch Cornish pumping engine was installed around 1870 and this survives, although in a reduced state, along with a number of other mine buildings.

Llywernog

The discovery of argentiferous galena (silver-lead) at Llywernog was first made in the 1740s but it was not until the 1790s when two adits were driven into the hillside to aid drainage and access. In 1824 the mine lease was taken up by the Williams family of Scorrier, Cornwall, and Cornish mineworkers were recruited to provide much of the labour. Cornish surnames were to become common in the area and Methodist chapels were constructed in many nearby villages. Though the Williams’ association with the mine ended in 1834 the Cornish presence persisted under different owners until the mine finally closed in 1910. Today Llywernog is open as a visitor attraction with surface and underground tours.     

Anglesey, Parys Mountain, Amlwch

Anglesey experienced an explosion of activity in the latter decades of the eighteenth century when readily accessible opencast reserves of copper ore were exploited en masse at the Parys and Mona mines, depressing the world market price of copper. In 1811 the latter mine was reformed under the controlling interest of the Cornish-born John Vivian, of Swansea copper smelting renown, and deep shaft mining was pursued using Cornish methods. James Treweek of Gwennap became manager of the mine and over the next 40 years his sphere of influence was to include the overseeing of copper smelting on site, and at the nearby port of Amlwch, and the shipping interests of Mona. Today the Cornish engine house at Parys (1819) and the wharves at Amlwch are just some of the reminders of the scale of the Cornish influence on Anglesey.   

Minera Mine

Mining for silver-lead at Minera is known to have been taking place by 1296 but the Cornish were not to make their presence felt until 1745 when they formed part of an in-migrant workforce originating from Cornwall, Ireland and elsewhere. Cornish mining technology was also employed extensively at Minera in the nineteenth century and an 80-inch Cornish pumping engine was acquired, probably constructed by Harveys of Hayle, and installed at Taylors Shaft on or around 1845. Another 44-inch Cornish design pumping engine was installed at Meadow Shaft two years later and this has now been preserved for public view.

• The Isle of Man

The Famous Laxey Wheel

The Great Laxey Lead and Zinc Mine saw the installation of the, what would become famous, Laxey Wheel (‘Lady Isabella’) in 1854.

The Great Laxey Lead and Zinc Mine

Once a major producer of these two metals the mine also saw the installation of the, what would become famous, Laxey Wheel (‘Lady Isabella’) in 1854. Installed to pump from deepening workings, this was overseen by the Cornish Mine Captain Richard Rowe originally of St Agnes who also secured a beam winding engine for the mine in addition to constructing ‘Rowe’s Pier’ at Laxey. 

Foxdale

Mining commenced in the Foxdale area for silver-lead in the early eighteenth century, but Cornish involvement is understood to have commenced around 100 years later. Edward Bawden became manager of the Isle of Man Mining Company in 1830 and the number of Cornish engine houses in the area is an indication of the significance of the Cornish presence, with remains of these surviving at North and South Bradda mines, Beckwith’s Mine, and Cross-vein.  

Ireland

In the early 1800s, some Cornish mine workers migrated to West Cork to mine for copper, where they again left their cultural mark on the landscape. Notably, in the staunchly Roman Catholic area of Allihies on the Beara Peninsula, there stands a Baptist Chapel that was patronised by Cornish settlers in the area. The building is now home to the Allihies Copper Mine Museum.

Spain

The Cornish also settled in Spain, particularly in the lead mining area of Linares, Andalucia. This area is unique in Spain due to the multitude of Cornish engine houses and chimneys that nod to the influence of Cornish technology here.

New Zealand

In the 1870s and 1880s, New Zealand had an immigration drive to bring skilled labour into the country. The Cornish had built a reputation as hard workers who were also suitable to colonial life, as demonstrated by their successful settlement in South Australia.

Could you have Cornish ancestry?

Due to the expansive migration of Cornish mine workers throughout the 19th century, a large number of people from around the world have Cornish ancestry. Please visit one of the following websites if you would like to find out if you might have Cornish roots:

Ancestry.co.uk

CornishLinks.net

CornishLight.co.uk

Please download the PDF version of the World Heritage Site Diaspora Map to see just some of the 175-plus destinations world-wide with Cornish connections.

(PDF document reader software is required for this which can be downloaded from the Adobe website if necessary.)