Census Returns: Cornish Family

The Cornish Family in Census Returns

Craftsmen of Aldermaston and Sherborne St John
Destination: Western Canada

In August 1861 Charles Cornish, the son of Robert Cornish, married Ann, the daughter of John Whistler, a builder and decorator of Sherborne St John, Hampshire. Their wedding took place in Camden Town, London.
Census returns, maintained by The National Archives, can be viewed at the Ancestry family history website.
Note: In the 1841 census, the age was rounded down to the nearest five for those aged 15 or over.

Name Age Occupation Born in County?

1841 census – Laleham, Middlesex Reference: HO107/718/9 (folio 6, p. 5)

Robert Cornish 45 Drillman N

Susan Cornish 44 N

Samuel Cornish 18 N

William Cornish 16 N

George Cornish 14 N

Sophia Cornish 13 N

Pheboe Cornish 11 N

Frederick Cornish 9 Y

Eliza Cornish 7 Y

Marthann Cornish 6 Y

Charles Cornish 4 Y

Notes: In farming a drillman operated a horse-drawn seed drill for sowing seeds in neat rows, an innovation invented by Jethro Tull who helped bring about the agricultural revolution in England.

Name and relation to
Head of household Marital
Status Age Occupation Birth Place

1851 census – Wraysbury, Buckinghamshire Reference: HO107/1718 (folio 252, pp. 8–9)

Robert Cornish Head Married 56 Farmer, 120 acres Bruisyard, Suffolk

Susan Cornish Wife Married 56 Earl Soham, Suffolk

George Cornish Son Unmarried 26 Badingham, Suffolk

Phoebe Cornish Daughter Unm 22 Badingham, Suffolk

Frederick Cornish Son Unm 20 Farmers Son Laleham, Middlesex

Eliza Cornish Daughter Unm 18 Farmers Daughter Laleham, Middlesex

Martha Ann Cornish Daughter Unm 17 Laleham, Middlesex

Charles Cornish Son Unm 14 Laleham, Middlesex

Mary Frances Cornish Granddaughter 8 Thorpe, Surrey

Emma Cornish Niece Unm 22 Bruisyard, Suffolk

1861 census – Locks Farm, Wokingham, Berkshire Reference: RG9/750 (folio 94, p. 2)

Robert Cornish Head Married 67 Farmer, 215 acres,
2 labourers Bruisyard, Suffolk

Susan Cornish Wife Married 66 Earl Soham, Suffolk

William Cornish Son Unmarried 38 Farmer Badingham, Suffolk

Charles Cornish Son Unmarried 24 Farmer, 90 acres,
2 labourers Laleham, Middlesex

Martha Cornish Daughter Unm 26 Lady Laleham, Middlesex

Mary Cornish Niece Unm 18 Lady Thorpe, Surrey

George Crocker Servant Unm 18 Farm Servant Burghfield, Berkshire

James Douglas Servant Unm 18 Farm Servant Wokingham, Berkshire

James Russell Servant Unm 16 Cowman Oakley Green, Berkshire

William Brooker Servant Unm 20 Shepherd Wokingham, Berkshire

1871 census – Warren House Farm, Wokingham, Berkshire Reference: RG10/1286 (folio 32, p. 8)

Charles Cornish Head Married 33 Farmer of 148 acres
employing 4 laborers
and 2 boys Laleham, Middlesex

Ann Cornish Wife Married 40 Tilehurst, Berkshire

John Cornish Son 8 Scholar Wokingham, Berkshire

Emmeline A Cornish Daughter 4 Wokingham, Berkshire

Charles Herbert Cornish Son 1 Wokingham, Berkshire

Eliza Bradley Servant Unmarried 14 Domestic servant Heckfield, Hampshire

James Pursey Servant Unm 15 Farm servant Henley, Oxfordshire

James Goddard Servant Unm 14 Farm servant Twyford, Berkshire

1881 census – Ashridge Wood Farm, Wokingham, Berkshire Reference: RG11/1310 (folio 83, p. 13)

Charles Cornish Head Married 44 Farmer of 148 acres
employing 5 laborers
and 2 boys Laleham, Middlesex

Anne Cornish Wife Married 50 Farmers Wife Theale, Berkshire

Emmeline A Cornish Daughter 14 Farmers Daughter Wokingham, Berkshire

Charles Herbert Cornish Son 11 Scholar Wokingham, Berkshire

Arthur Henry Cornish Son 9 Scholar Wokingham, Berkshire

Notes: Possibly this was the same farm where the Cornish family were living in the 1871 census.
On the 1881 census form neighbouring homes were named Cornish’s Cottages. Possibly these were the homes of farm workers employed by Charles Cornish.

1891 census – Forelands Farm, New St, Stratfield Saye, Hampshire Reference: RG12/959 (folio 93, p. 3)

Charles Cornish Head Married 54 Farmer Laleham, Middlesex

Annie Cornish Wife Married 62 Theale, Berkshire

Emmeline A Cornish Daughter Single 24 Wokingham, Berkshire

Arthur H Cornish Son Single 19 Farmer’s Son Wokingham, Berkshire

1901 census – Rookstone Empire Terrace, Margate, Kent Reference: RG13/821 (folio 106, p. 36)

Anne Cornish Head Widow 72 Living on own means Theale, Berkshire

Emmeline Cornish Daughter Single 34 Wokingham, Berkshire

Notes: The house appears to be near Salmerstone Rise and College Road, Margate.

1901 census – 187 St Ann’s Road, Tottenham, London Reference: RG13/1254 (folio 70, p. 61)

John R Cornish Head Married 38 Chemist Wokingham, Berkshire

Caroline A Cornish Wife Married 37 Mortimer, Berkshire

Frederick W Ayling Stepson 15 Apprentice Optician Kennington, Surrey

Charles A Cornish Son 6 Tottenham, London

Nina Cornish Daughter 4 Tottenham, London

Edgar J Cornish Son 3 Tottenham, London

Hilda Cornish Daughter 2 Tottenham, London

John H Cornish Son 3 months Tottenham, London

Emma J Warner Servant Single 34 Domestic Long Crendon, Oxfordshire

Notes: On 30 March 1893, at Wandsworth St Faith, London, the wedding took place of John Robert Cornish, a bachelor aged 30, the son of Charles Cornish, a farmer who was deceased, and Caroline Amelia Ayling, a widow aged 29, the daughter of Walter Imlay, a house decorator. The marriage register recorded that John Robert Cornish was a chemist living at 3 Huntsmoor Road (London Parish Records, Ancestry website). Huntsmoor Road no longer exists.

1911 census – Kenilworth, Edith Rd, Ramsgate, Kent Reference: RG14/4526 (schedule 217)

Anne Cornish Head Widow 82 Private means Theale, Berkshire

Emmeline A Cornish Daughter Single 42 Wokingham, Berkshire

Ethel Gretton Servant Single 15 General Servant Ashford, Kent

1911 census – 187 St Ann’s Road, South Tottenham, Middlesex Reference: RG14/7293 (schedule 198)

John Robert Cornish Head Married 48 Chemist Optician (Retail) Wokingham, Berkshire

Caroline Amelia Cornish Wife Married 47 Mortimer, Berkshire

Nina Cornish Daughter Single 15 Tottenham, Middlesex

Hilda Cornish Daughter 12 School Tottenham, Middlesex

John Hugh Cornish Son 10 Tottenham, Middlesex

Evelyn Cornish Daughter 5 Tottenham, Middlesex

Notes: There is a record that John R. Cornish of 187 St Ann’s Road, South Tottenham, London was the owner of a painting, Isle of Wight Coast Scene, by the artist George Morland: in background, a ruin on a lofty cliff; in foreground, to left, three men, with their coats off, pulling something ashore; 20 in x 24 in, unsigned, undated (see George Charles Williamson, George Morland; his life and works, 1907, Internet Archive , Appendix III, Proprietors of Paintings by George Morland, p. 140).

The Cornish family decided to make a new life in Canada. Their destination was Lloydminster, a town straddling the Alberta-Saskatchewan provincial border (the destination of Lloydminster was stated for the family on the passenger lists for the ships they travelled on to cross the Atlantic Ocean: Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865–1935, Ancestry website). William Whistler, a cousin of John Robert Cornish, had arrived in the Lloydminster area in 1903 as one of the English colonists who were the pioneer settlers. William had moved on to British Columbia, but his brother-in-law Stanley Ilsley, who had travelled to Canada with the Whistler family, established a farm near Lloydminster (see the chapter Destination: Western Canada).

1916 Canada census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta (Ancestry website)
Merton, Battle River, Alberta (Section 18, Township 47, Range 1, Meridian 4)
[Section 18 was west of Meridian 4, the Alberta-Saskatchewan border]

John Robert Cornish Head Married 53 Farmer England

Caroline Amelia Cornish Wife Married 52 England

Charles Arthur C Cornish Son Single 22 Soldier, Farmer’s son England

Nina Cornish Daughter Single 20 England

Edgar Imlay Cornish Son Single 19 Farmer’s son England

Evelyn Cornish Daughter Single 10 England

Next household

Frederick Walter E
Ayling Head Single 30 Farmer England

Notes: The census form recorded that the family were now all Canadian citizens.
The District of Merton was merged into the County of Vermilion River in 1943 (Alberta Gazette , December 31, 1943). The County of Vermilion River includes the Alberta portion of the city of Lloydminster.
The younger brother of John Robert Cornish, Charles Herbert Cornish, settled in Argentina. Some of his sea voyages can be traced. Charles H Cornish, aged 24, was a passenger onboard the steamship Vala, departed London 30 March 1894, sailing for the destination port of Buenos Aires, Argentina (UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960, Ancestry online database). After the start of the Great War he made a return visit to England leaving Buenos Aires on the Araguaya of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and arriving in Liverpool on 23 February 1915 (UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878–1960, Ancestry online database). The ship’s manifest listed his occupation as clerk and his English address as ‘Kenilworth’ Edith Rd, Ramsgate – the home of his mother Anne Cornish who died later in the year. Anne Cornish, aged 84, was buried at St Laurence (Lawrence) Church, Ramsgate on 3 December 1915 (transcribed parish register online). In 1918 Charles Herbert Cornish returned to Buenos Aires, Argentina as a passenger on the Highland Piper of the Nelson Steam Navigation Co Ltd sailing from London on 21 September 1918 (UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890–1960, Ancestry online database). The passenger list recorded his occupation as a rancher.
Cyril Herbert Ainscough Cornish, the son of Charles H Cornish and May Yeomans, born 1 September 1900, was baptised 21 October 1900 in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Buenos Aires (British Settlers in Argentina website).

Copyright © WhistlerHistory
All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer
Revision date: 2016

Name			Age	Occupation	Born in County?
In August 1861 Charles Cornish, the son of Robert Cornish, married Ann, the daughter of John Whistler, a builder and decorator of Sherborne St John, Hampshire. Their wedding took place in Camden Town, London. Census returns, maintained by The National Archives, can be viewed at the Ancestry family history website. Note: In the 1841 census, the age was rounded down to the nearest five for those aged 15 or over.
1841 census – Laleham, Middlesex Reference: HO107/718/9 (folio 6, p. 5)
Robert Cornish			45	Drillman	N
Susan Cornish			44		N
Samuel Cornish			18		N
William Cornish			16		N
George Cornish			14		N
Sophia Cornish			13		N
Pheboe Cornish			11		N
Frederick Cornish			9		Y
Eliza Cornish			7		Y
Marthann Cornish			6		Y
Charles Cornish			4		Y
Notes: In farming a drillman operated a horse-drawn seed drill for sowing seeds in neat rows, an innovation invented by Jethro Tull who helped bring about the agricultural revolution in England.
Name and relation to Head of household		Marital Status	Age	Occupation	Birth Place
1851 census – Wraysbury, Buckinghamshire Reference: HO107/1718 (folio 252, pp. 8–9)
Robert Cornish	Head	Married	56	Farmer, 120 acres	Bruisyard, Suffolk
Susan Cornish	Wife	Married	56		Earl Soham, Suffolk
George Cornish	Son	Unmarried	26		Badingham, Suffolk
Phoebe Cornish	Daughter	Unm	22		Badingham, Suffolk
Frederick Cornish	Son	Unm	20	Farmers Son	Laleham, Middlesex
Eliza Cornish	Daughter	Unm	18	Farmers Daughter	Laleham, Middlesex
Martha Ann Cornish	Daughter	Unm	17		Laleham, Middlesex
Charles Cornish	Son	Unm	14		Laleham, Middlesex
Mary Frances Cornish	Granddaughter		8		Thorpe, Surrey
Emma Cornish	Niece	Unm	22		Bruisyard, Suffolk

1861 census – Locks Farm, Wokingham, Berkshire Reference: RG9/750 (folio 94, p. 2)
Robert Cornish	Head	Married	67	Farmer, 215 acres, 2 labourers	Bruisyard, Suffolk
Susan Cornish	Wife	Married	66		Earl Soham, Suffolk
William Cornish	Son	Unmarried	38	Farmer	Badingham, Suffolk
Charles Cornish	Son	Unmarried	24	Farmer, 90 acres, 2 labourers	Laleham, Middlesex
Martha Cornish	Daughter	Unm	26	Lady	Laleham, Middlesex
Mary Cornish	Niece	Unm	18	Lady	Thorpe, Surrey
George Crocker	Servant	Unm	18	Farm Servant	Burghfield, Berkshire
James Douglas	Servant	Unm	18	Farm Servant	Wokingham, Berkshire
James Russell	Servant	Unm	16	Cowman	Oakley Green, Berkshire
William Brooker	Servant	Unm	20	Shepherd	Wokingham, Berkshire

1871 census – Warren House Farm, Wokingham, Berkshire Reference: RG10/1286 (folio 32, p. 8)
Charles Cornish	Head	Married	33	Farmer of 148 acres employing 4 laborers and 2 boys	Laleham, Middlesex
Ann Cornish	Wife	Married	40		Tilehurst, Berkshire
John Cornish	Son		8	Scholar	Wokingham, Berkshire
Emmeline A Cornish	Daughter		4		Wokingham, Berkshire
Charles Herbert Cornish	Son		1		Wokingham, Berkshire
Eliza Bradley	Servant	Unmarried	14	Domestic servant	Heckfield, Hampshire
James Pursey	Servant	Unm	15	Farm servant	Henley, Oxfordshire
James Goddard	Servant	Unm	14	Farm servant	Twyford, Berkshire

1881 census – Ashridge Wood Farm, Wokingham, Berkshire Reference: RG11/1310 (folio 83, p. 13)
Charles Cornish	Head	Married	44	Farmer of 148 acres employing 5 laborers and 2 boys	Laleham, Middlesex
Anne Cornish	Wife	Married	50	Farmers Wife	Theale, Berkshire
Emmeline A Cornish	Daughter		14	Farmers Daughter	Wokingham, Berkshire
Charles Herbert Cornish	Son		11	Scholar	Wokingham, Berkshire
Arthur Henry Cornish	Son		9	Scholar	Wokingham, Berkshire
Notes: Possibly this was the same farm where the Cornish family were living in the 1871 census. On the 1881 census form neighbouring homes were named Cornish’s Cottages. Possibly these were the homes of farm workers employed by Charles Cornish.
1891 census – Forelands Farm, New St, Stratfield Saye, Hampshire Reference: RG12/959 (folio 93, p. 3)
Charles Cornish	Head	Married	54	Farmer	Laleham, Middlesex
Annie Cornish	Wife	Married	62		Theale, Berkshire
Emmeline A Cornish	Daughter	Single	24		Wokingham, Berkshire
Arthur H Cornish	Son	Single	19	Farmer’s Son	Wokingham, Berkshire

1901 census – Rookstone Empire Terrace, Margate, Kent Reference: RG13/821 (folio 106, p. 36)
Anne Cornish	Head	Widow	72	Living on own means	Theale, Berkshire
Emmeline Cornish	Daughter	Single	34		Wokingham, Berkshire
Notes: The house appears to be near Salmerstone Rise and College Road, Margate.
1901 census – 187 St Ann’s Road, Tottenham, London Reference: RG13/1254 (folio 70, p. 61)
John R Cornish	Head	Married	38	Chemist	Wokingham, Berkshire
Caroline A Cornish	Wife	Married	37		Mortimer, Berkshire
Frederick W Ayling	Stepson		15	Apprentice Optician	Kennington, Surrey
Charles A Cornish	Son		6		Tottenham, London
Nina Cornish	Daughter		4		Tottenham, London
Edgar J Cornish	Son		3		Tottenham, London
Hilda Cornish	Daughter		2		Tottenham, London
John H Cornish	Son		3 months		Tottenham, London
Emma J Warner	Servant	Single	34	Domestic	Long Crendon, Oxfordshire
Notes: On 30 March 1893, at Wandsworth St Faith, London, the wedding took place of John Robert Cornish, a bachelor aged 30, the son of Charles Cornish, a farmer who was deceased, and Caroline Amelia Ayling, a widow aged 29, the daughter of Walter Imlay, a house decorator. The marriage register recorded that John Robert Cornish was a chemist living at 3 Huntsmoor Road (London Parish Records, Ancestry website). Huntsmoor Road no longer exists.
1911 census – Kenilworth, Edith Rd, Ramsgate, Kent Reference: RG14/4526 (schedule 217)
Anne Cornish	Head	Widow	82	Private means	Theale, Berkshire
Emmeline A Cornish	Daughter	Single	42		Wokingham, Berkshire
Ethel Gretton	Servant	Single	15	General Servant	Ashford, Kent
1911 census – 187 St Ann’s Road, South Tottenham, Middlesex Reference: RG14/7293 (schedule 198)
John Robert Cornish	Head	Married	48	Chemist Optician (Retail)	Wokingham, Berkshire
Caroline Amelia Cornish	Wife	Married	47		Mortimer, Berkshire
Nina Cornish	Daughter	Single	15		Tottenham, Middlesex
Hilda Cornish	Daughter		12	School	Tottenham, Middlesex
John Hugh Cornish	Son		10		Tottenham, Middlesex
Evelyn Cornish	Daughter		5		Tottenham, Middlesex
Notes: There is a record that John R. Cornish of 187 St Ann’s Road, South Tottenham, London was the owner of a painting, Isle of Wight Coast Scene, by the artist George Morland: in background, a ruin on a lofty cliff; in foreground, to left, three men, with their coats off, pulling something ashore; 20 in x 24 in, unsigned, undated (see George Charles Williamson, George Morland; his life and works, 1907, Internet Archive , Appendix III, Proprietors of Paintings by George Morland, p. 140). The Cornish family decided to make a new life in Canada. Their destination was Lloydminster, a town straddling the Alberta-Saskatchewan provincial border (the destination of Lloydminster was stated for the family on the passenger lists for the ships they travelled on to cross the Atlantic Ocean: Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865–1935, Ancestry website). William Whistler, a cousin of John Robert Cornish, had arrived in the Lloydminster area in 1903 as one of the English colonists who were the pioneer settlers. William had moved on to British Columbia, but his brother-in-law Stanley Ilsley, who had travelled to Canada with the Whistler family, established a farm near Lloydminster (see the chapter Destination: Western Canada).
1916 Canada census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta (Ancestry website) Merton, Battle River, Alberta (Section 18, Township 47, Range 1, Meridian 4) [Section 18 was west of Meridian 4, the Alberta-Saskatchewan border]
John Robert Cornish	Head	Married	53	Farmer	England
Caroline Amelia Cornish	Wife	Married	52		England
Charles Arthur C Cornish	Son	Single	22	Soldier, Farmer’s son	England
Nina Cornish	Daughter	Single	20		England
Edgar Imlay Cornish	Son	Single	19	Farmer’s son	England
Evelyn Cornish	Daughter	Single	10		England
Next household
Frederick Walter E Ayling	Head	Single	30	Farmer	England
Notes: The census form recorded that the family were now all Canadian citizens. The District of Merton was merged into the County of Vermilion River in 1943 (Alberta Gazette , December 31, 1943). The County of Vermilion River includes the Alberta portion of the city of Lloydminster. The younger brother of John Robert Cornish, Charles Herbert Cornish, settled in Argentina. Some of his sea voyages can be traced. Charles H Cornish, aged 24, was a passenger onboard the steamship Vala, departed London 30 March 1894, sailing for the destination port of Buenos Aires, Argentina (UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960, Ancestry online database). After the start of the Great War he made a return visit to England leaving Buenos Aires on the Araguaya of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and arriving in Liverpool on 23 February 1915 (UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878–1960, Ancestry online database). The ship’s manifest listed his occupation as clerk and his English address as ‘Kenilworth’ Edith Rd, Ramsgate – the home of his mother Anne Cornish who died later in the year. Anne Cornish, aged 84, was buried at St Laurence (Lawrence) Church, Ramsgate on 3 December 1915 (transcribed parish register online). In 1918 Charles Herbert Cornish returned to Buenos Aires, Argentina as a passenger on the Highland Piper of the Nelson Steam Navigation Co Ltd sailing from London on 21 September 1918 (UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890–1960, Ancestry online database). The passenger list recorded his occupation as a rancher. Cyril Herbert Ainscough Cornish, the son of Charles H Cornish and May Yeomans, born 1 September 1900, was baptised 21 October 1900 in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Buenos Aires (British Settlers in Argentina website).

Copyright © WhistlerHistory All Rights Reserved.				Disclaimer Revision date: 2016