Families of Cornwall
Kernow, Land's End, the tin mines, the granite saints, and the Brittonic surnames of the south-western peninsula.
Tap a region of the map to see who held it.
Families seated in Cornwall
- HillOn the hill, and the Penny Post and the National Trust.
- WhiteThe fair one.
- AdamsSon of Adam.
- JamesFrom Jacob, through Latin Iacomus to Welsh Iago to Tudor English James.
- BaileyThe steward of the bailey, castle administration in one syllable.
- PhillipsSon of Philip, Welsh ap Phylip and Norman patronymic under one spelling.
- CoxThe cock, youth and pride.
- PayneThe villager's joke, worn with honour now.
- LongThe long one.
- DavisSon of David, one spelling among England's commonest.
- MartinThe saint's name, English and Norman registers alike.
- HarrisHarry's son, the West Country spelling, and the Welsh chapel surname of Howell Harris.
- StevensStephen's line, southwestern -ens spelling.
- JenkinsLittle John, Welsh thumbprint on English registers.
- PerryPear-orchard or Peter's kin.
- FordThe crossing, stamped on Shakespearian country.
- StoneThe stone, boundary-mark name.
- FoxThe fox, nickname that stuck.
- SaundersAlexander's son, Cornish and Wessex thick.
- HopkinsLittle Hodge, border favourite.
- HarveyBreton battle-name, English orchard now.
- MatthewsMatthew's son, March and Welsh edge.
- LaneThe lane, hedge-bottom dweller.
- HuntThe hunter, chase and warren.
- ColeCoal-black or Saint Nicholas' pet form.
- WestonThe western farm, toponym epidemic.
- LawrenceLaurence of Rome, England's Registers repeat him.
- RogersSon of Roger, the famous-spear Norman first name.
- PearceFrom Piers, the Norman face of Peter.
- PetersSon of Peter, the rock-name made patronymic.
Historic ties to Cornwall
Families with historic but not core ground here.
Champions made here
Famous bearers whose lives or work root in Cornwall.
- Dame Laura KnightThe Long Eaton lace-designer's daughter who won an art scholarship at thirteen, painted alongside the Newlyn and Lamorna colonies, became the first woman elected a full Royal Academician in 1936, and served as a war artist at the Nuremberg trial.
- Ralph AllenThe St Blazey innkeeper's son who reformed the British cross-post system, made the General Post Office financially viable, bought the Combe Down quarries and built Prior Park from his own stone, and was the Squire Allworthy of Henry Fielding's Tom Jones.