The Harveys of Hayle

It has been common knowledge in our family that our great great grandmother was governess to the Harvey family’s children. But which ones? And when? And where?

I grew up in Hayle in the 1950s and even then, almost 100 years later, the Harveys cast a huge shadow of the town. The Foundry Square was named after the iron and steel foundry started by John Harvey in 1783 or so, and in the 1950s and early 60s the harbour they created was still receiving shiploads of goods each week. But it was all history, dusty and forgotten.

A few years ago I heard about a book written by Edward Vale, published by Bradford Barton of Truro and called “The Harveys of Hayle”. It was long out of print and copies were changing hands at up to £90. Then recently I found that it had been reprinted and persuaded my family to get me a copy for Christmas. Now I could get Wilhelmina out of the cupboard and try to discover more about her.

The obvious candidate is Nicholas Oliver Harvey. According to the family tree in Vale’s book, he was lived from 1803 to 1868. After serving his apprenticeship in Birmingham, he worked in Prussian shipbuilding firm for five years. He also spent a lot of time in Holland and developed steam tug boats for use on the River Rhine. He married his first wife in 1830 but she died childless in 1847. In 1848 he married Juliana Catharina Wilhelmina Leug (1820- 1902), moving back to Hayle to manage the Foundry in the late forties/early fifties.

They had five children starting with Harry in 1857, and no doubt it was these children that Wilhelmina looked after.
The record for Henry's baptism can be found here. He was baptised on the 13th August 1857. Wilhelmina would have been 17 at the time. I can find no trace of her working for the Harveys, so it has to be left unproven.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sterth/bap1856_60.htm