Parallel Lines

I've spent an age looking at various website pages checking out the Hayes family line. I managed to find a Hayes in a neighbouring parish of Uny Lelant in the late 1680s and through that link managed to find a host of Hayes births deaths and marriages. It seems that the Hayes family only ever called their sons William, James, Richard or John, so it's confusing to find so many James Hayes down the years, especially as we find that a James Hayes died in infancy and the parents went on to have another son and called him James as well! No sooner had I compiled a huge list of names and was beginning to tie the family tree together when I stumbled on this site!
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~peterscornishfamily/Hayes/Hayes-Family.htm

My good friend and fellow geneologist Peter had found a lot of what I'd discovered and set it out in table form as you can see. I contacted him and offered him the information I had found and he has been able to extend the Hayes family line and include the Clemo Family Tree as well.
Please check it out. I was staggered to see how many Cornish families we are related to by marriage.

Interesting link...

We've been away on holiday in Cornwall and visited a few relatives. One of my cousins told me something that set me off investigating as soon as I returned. People often ask me if I'm related to the blind Cornish poet Jack Clemo. I've always said no as he was from St Austell at the other end of the county. However, Rose told me that she was told by her father that Jack Clemo was our grandfather Jim's cousin, and that he came down to Goldsithney to visit on several occasions. This got me thinking and investigating. The first thing I was able to establish was that Jack's full name was Reginald John Clemo. He was born in 1916 and his father died at sea soon afterwards. This got me thinking. There are two Clemos on the Navy Memorial at Plymouth. One is grandfather Jim's older brother Reginald Charles, who went down with HMS Prize, and the other in Stoker Reginald Clemo who was on HMS Tornado when is was hit by a mine in 1917. Could this be Jack's father? If so, then we must work backwards to find the family link.

Trevithick Estate

We moved into this house in 1953. Both my sister Shirley and my brother Richard were born there. We moved to London in 1962.
Since then the house has undergone an upgrade. The windows have been replaced (the old ones were single glazed metal frames and were very draughty, and the building has been clad to improve the insulation.
I'm going down to Hayle soon. Should I knock on the door?

My early years

I was born in 1949 and my parents lived with my grandparents for the first few months of their marriage. However, I understand that my grandmother was not the easiest person to get along with, and so they moved into a bedsit in Penzance. I've tried to find it but the building must have long gone. Following that, they lived on Hayle Towans. Here's my Identity Card which I still have in my possession.

In yet another of those strange coincidences, this is about half a mile from Phillack Church, where my Great-great-grandfather and his wife are buried.

I have a few tiny photos of me as a child taken on the Towans. But where?

We stayed on the Towans when we holidayed in Cornwall last September. I made a point of looking for the location of the photographs. I soon found the chalet called "Lanteglos". It doesn't have a sea view and I'd have been too young to be the boy in the picture. I went looking for "Westover". I was told that the owners aren't allowed to change the names of the chalets but I saw little evidence to support that as I walked around the area. Most of the chalets have been uprated or rebuilt as bungalows but I eventually found myself on a part of the Towans that had the required views and buildings in the background. (I have about six photos and it's possible to line up the photos with the present day buildings and get the approximate location.)

This is the same view as the photo from 1952, with my son as subject

According to my ID card we moved into "Westover" in February 1951. We moved to Trevithick Estate in 1953 (I think) so I would be two or three when the photo was taken.

An update

The project has been on the back burner for a few months while I collect more information and order my thoughts. I can trace my family all the way from 1863 to the present day but I have a few gaps in the narrative. It doesn't help that almost all my aunts and uncles are deceased. I'm in contact with various cousins and I'm trying to patch together the story from the mid 1930s.
My family is typical of many. In a way there's nothing special about them. However there are the usual family arguments and divisions and I'm trying to piece a story out of the fragments that survive.

I've written about 20,000 words that take the story up to the end of the First World War. As I understand more about my family I will add to it.

William and Elizabeth Clemo's grave at Phillack

William was a master mariner and according to the 1891 census, had servants look after him and his family. Here's the entry:
19,Commercial Rd,
William J Clemo, Head, M ,47,,Master Seas Mariner, Employed, Newquay Cornwall,,
Elizabeth R Clemo,Wife,M,,49,,,Hayle Cornwall,,
Mary Clemo,Dau,S,,25,Draper's Assistant, Employed, Hayle Cornwall,,
Bessie Clemo,Dau,S,,19,Draper's Assistant, Employed, Hayle Cornwall,,
Julia Clemo,Dau,S,,17,Milliner's Assistant, Employed, Hayle Cornwall,,
Richard Clemo,Son,S,15,,Engineer Apprentice, Employed, Hayle Cornwall,,
Clarice Clemo,Dau,,,11,Scholar,,Hayle Cornwall,,
Stanley Clemo,Son,,10,,Scholar,,Hayle Cornwall,,
Elizabeth J Mitchell,Servnt,S,,42,General Servant, Employed, Hayle Cornwall,,

(Elizabeth (Bessie) Clemo was born on 23rd Nov 1871 and baptised at Phillack on the 8th Feb 1872)

After Elizabeth died he moved back to Newquay. Here he is in 1901:
1901 Census Newquay
RG 13 /2207 folio 21 page 34

Newquay, parish St. Columb minor.
Bank Street.
William CLEMO head/wid/57/retired master mariner/Newquay
Mary G CLEMO dau/single/35/Hayle
Bessie CLEMO dau/single/29/Hayle
Julia CLEMO dau/single/26/Hayle
Clarissa CLEMO dau/single/21/Hayle
Jane MITCHELL servant/single/50/gen. domestic/Hayle
Annie CARHARRICK? servant/single/27/housemaid/Crantock
Richard STEPHENS boarder/34/auctioneer manager/St. columb minor
Frederick H GEACH boarder/wid/65/living on own means/Bodmin

None of his daughters had found husbands- and neither had his servant Elizabeth Jane Mitchell. The records show that they died as follows
Burial at Phillack
CLEMO Elizabeth Richards 51 Penpol Terrace Hayle 14-Jul 1893
CLEMO William John 73 Treglyn Higher Town Road Newquay 8-Feb 1917 (Born 1844)

After a quick check on Google maps and streetview, it's clear that this entry should read Higher Tower Street, which is a shortish street of Victorian/Edwardian houses, now mostly B&Bs.

The grave is a pretty high status memorial but 100 years of exposure to the sea air is taking its toll

Charles and Annie Clemo's grave

After searching Phillack churchyard for almost an hour I managed to find the grave of my great great granfather Charles and of his wife Annie. Phillack is perched on the landward side of Hayle Towans a huge range of dunes that line St Ives bay in Cornwall. This may account for the unevenness of the ground.