The name of Launceston is a curious combination from the old Cornish language: LAN = monastic enclosure; LAUN = cleared space; SEN = Saint; TON = to charm, heal and sanctify or, more simply, town.
Lanson is still one of the pronunciations used by locals and ex-patriates.
This ancient capital of Cornwall guarded the gateway to Cornwall in medieval times, being on the main northern route into the county. It lies at the heart of some of the most beautiful countryside in the Westcountry, which has been lived in by man since long before the dawn of history.
The town, dominated by Dunheved Castle (which name
the town also bore under Saxon rule) has been a market and farming town for
centuries and remains so.
The parish is centred around the Church of Saint Mary
Magdalene in Church Street , Launceston. The first mention of the Church
of Saint Mary Magdalene is 1080 and it was probably built about the same
time as the Norman castle of Dunheved .
The second church of this name was built in 1380 and the tower still
remains. This was built by Edward, the Black Prince; Duke of Cornwall
and son of the Plantagenet King, Edward III.
The third church, which is the present building, was built by Sir Henry
Trecarrell in 1511. The work was completed 13 years later. The building
was consecrated on 18 June 1524 by John Veysey, Bishop of Exeter, whose
diocese at that time included the whole of Cornwall. The building is
unique in that it is said to be the only church in England built of
carved Cornish granite. The various carvings depict the different plants
from which the spikenard ointment was made, which was used by Mary
Magdalene when she anointed the feet of our Lord.
The Church was built by Sir Henry Trecarrell in memory of his infant heir who was tragically drowned. The grief-stricken Henry halted the building of his manor house and chapel at Trebullett and gave the remaining stone to be used for Launceston’s Mother Church. The arms of the families concerned in the building, Trecarrell and Kelway, can be seen on the south porch; and those of the reigning monarch, Henry VIII, high up on the east end.
The parish registers date from 1559 and are said to be in excellent condition.
Contrary to some records, the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene is of the Anglican tradition. Other denominational churches within the town include the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Cuthbert Mayne on St. Stephen's Hill, the Wesleyan Methodist Church on Castle Street and the Castle Street Independent Chapel.
The Online Parish Clerk for Launceston, St Mary Magdalene is Dean
Newman, who may be reached via Email.
Instead of maintaining a separate website, the OPC will post record sources on this website. See below for links to the data. Very few ‘non-internet’ records for the Parish of Saint Mary Magdalene have been transcribed by the OPC at this time. Please check back frequently for updates on transcriptions, as work is ongoing.
Donations of transcriptions are always welcome!
Dean has been the OPC for the Launceston town parishes and Egloskerry since the inception of the Cornwall Online Parish Clerk scheme in 2001.
His connection to this area comes through his maternal ancestors: the Martin family of Kernick Farm, Launceston and the Hornabrook family of Hole Barton at Egloskerry, the families were linked with the marriage of his great-grand-father and great-grand-mother at Launceston in 1850.
He lives in Australia and, while he studied in England and Scotland in 1974, he has never visited Cornwall.
Information can be found at COCP (Cornwall Online Census Project) which is almost complete for 1841 to 1891 and has been verified, FreeCen at Rootsweb, which has a very good search engine and information from COCP, as well as GenUKI, which has more reference information and alternate resources.
This parish has been well-covered by the IGI
available at www.familysearch.org. By inserting the 'batch' number in your
search, only records extracted from Parish Registers will be returned,
eliminating questionable records.
The records include:
For baptisms: Batch C 023001 (1752-1804) and Batch C
023002 (1681-1748);
For marriages: Batch M 023003 (1563-1753).
The Phillimore Marriage records for St. Mary Magdalene which cover the period
1559-1812 are being progressively transcribed.
Transcriptions of the data for births and deaths are being made from the website
at http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/. Information is for Launceston only and is not
parish-specific.
All records can be searched on request by sending relevant information to the
OPC.
For further Parish Register information, please see our searchable database (C-PROP)
which is updated frequently or contact:
The
Cornwall Record Office,
The Cornwall Family
History Society
or see GenUKI (link below).
For information, see GenUKI (link below).
To view a bastardy order, dated 25 Jul 1825, involving Mary ROWE of Altarnun and Henry PEARSE of Launceston, click here.
For more information regarding History, Population, and much more, visit GenUKI.
For a Parish Locator map, please click here. Launceston, St Mary Magdalene can be located at coordinates J - 7.
For further map information, please visit GenUKI (Genealogy - United Kingdom & Ireland).
To see a current, zoomable Ordnance Survey map, please visit
MultiMap, or for maps and satellite
images use
Google Maps.
